{"id":67037,"date":"2025-08-29T18:58:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T18:58:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-16T07:08:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T13:08:50","slug":"cve-2022-45134-critical-vulnerability-in-mahara-leading-to-potential-system-compromise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2022-45134-critical-vulnerability-in-mahara-leading-to-potential-system-compromise\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2022-45134: Critical Vulnerability in Mahara Leading to Potential System Compromise<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In this blog post, we delve into the recent critical vulnerability CVE-2022-45134 affecting Mahara versions 21.10 before 21.10.6, 22.04 before 22.04.4, and 22.10 before 22.10.1. Mahara is a popular open-source e-portfolio system widely used by educational institutions globally. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-32451-memory-corruption-vulnerability-in-foxit-reader-leading-to-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"74413\">vulnerability allows potential attackers to execute arbitrary code<\/a> on the target system through a particular XML file structure during the skin import process. It&#8217;s crucial to understand and address this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-27058-memory-corruption-vulnerability-in-packet-data-processing\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"74725\">vulnerability promptly as it poses a severe threat to data<\/a> security, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2022-45134<br \/>\nSeverity: Critical (9.8 CVSS Score)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Network<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: Low<br \/>\nUser Interaction: Required<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-27050-memory-corruption-vulnerability-leading-to-potential-system-compromise-and-data-leakage\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"74741\">Potential system compromise or data<\/a> leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-2454805300\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p>Mahara | 21.10 before 21.10.6<br \/>\nMahara | 22.04 before 22.04.4<br \/>\nMahara | 22.10 before 22.10.1<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47982-improper-input-validation-vulnerability-in-windows-storage-vsp-driver-leading-to-privilege-escalation\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"75539\">vulnerability arises from the unsafe deserialization of user input<\/a> during the skin import process. When Mahara processes a specially structured XML file, it may <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-50754-stored-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability-leading-to-remote-code-execution-in-unisite-cms-5-0\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"74619\">lead to arbitrary code execution<\/a>. An attacker can exploit this by sending a malicious XML file in the skin import request, which, when deserialized unsafely by the application, allows the attacker to execute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-49526-out-of-bounds-write-vulnerability-in-illustrator-leading-to-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"75124\">arbitrary code<\/a> on the target system.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-2464484334\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Here is a conceptual example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability. Please note that this is a hypothetical example and not actual exploit code.<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">POST \/skin_import HTTP\/1.1\nHost: mahara.example.com\nContent-Type: application\/xml\n&lt;root&gt;\n&lt;exploit&gt;...malicious code here...&lt;\/exploit&gt;\n&lt;\/root&gt;<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>In this example, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-9408-server-side-request-forgery-attack-in-eclipse-glassfish\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"77270\">attacker sends a POST request<\/a> to the `\/skin_import` endpoint with a malicious XML payload.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mitigation Guide<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Users are strongly advised to update their Mahara installation to the latest versions &#8211; 21.10.6, 22.04.4, or 22.10.1, as these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-8088-path-traversal-vulnerability-in-windows-version-of-winrar\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"78667\">versions contain the patch for this vulnerability<\/a>. If it&#8217;s not possible to apply the patch immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation. These <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2022-43110-critical-unauthenticated-remote-system-configuration-vulnerability-in-voltronic-power-viewpower-powershield-netguard\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"83098\">systems should be configured<\/a> to block or alert on suspicious XML payloads in the skin import requests.<br \/>\nRemember, staying up-to-date with software patches and having a robust security <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20253-critical-vulnerability-in-ikev2-feature-of-cisco-software-could-lead-to-denial-of-service-dos-attack\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"76172\">system<\/a> in place is essential in protecting your systems and data from such vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview In this blog post, we delve into the recent critical vulnerability CVE-2022-45134 affecting Mahara versions 21.10 before 21.10.6, 22.04 before 22.04.4, and 22.10 before 22.10.1. Mahara is a popular open-source e-portfolio system widely used by educational institutions globally. This vulnerability allows potential attackers to execute arbitrary code on the target system through a particular [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[80],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-67037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","attack_vector-rce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67037"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75637,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67037\/revisions\/75637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67037"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=67037"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=67037"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=67037"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=67037"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=67037"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=67037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}