CVE-2023-5540 | Moodle: authenticated remote code execution risk in imscp

A remote code execution risk was identified in the IMSCP activity. By default this was only available to teachers and managers.

Published: 2023-11-09 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-5540 is rated Moderate Risk (48.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.20%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-5540

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-20 2.01% 2.20% +0.19%
2 2026-01-26 1.83% 2.01% +0.18%
3 2025-11-21 — 1.83% —

Full EPSS history (16 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-5540

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.2 3.4 [email protected]
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-5540

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-5540

GHSA-w8x2-w4qr-v3x4 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: composer — Moodle Code Injection vulnerability

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-5540

vendor priority summary link
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-5540 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (moodle), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 8, needs-triage 3, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-5540

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-5540

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
moodle moodle < 3.9.24 cpe:2.3:a:moodle:moodle:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
moodle moodle >= 3.11.0, < 3.11.17 cpe:2.3:a:moodle:moodle:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
moodle moodle >= 4.0.0, < 4.0.11 cpe:2.3:a:moodle:moodle:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
moodle moodle >= 4.1.0, < 4.1.6 cpe:2.3:a:moodle:moodle:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
moodle moodle >= 4.2.0, < 4.2.3 cpe:2.3:a:moodle:moodle:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject extra_packages_for_enterprise_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:fedoraproject:extra_packages_for_enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 38 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:38:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-5540

cvelogic Threat Intelligence