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Unrated severityNVD Advisory· Published Nov 15, 2011· Updated Apr 29, 2026

CVE-2011-2771

CVE-2011-2771

Description

Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in Mahara before 1.4.1 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors related to (1) URI attributes and (2) the External Feed component, as demonstrated by the guid element in an RSS feed.

AI Insight

LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.

Mahara before 1.4.1 contains multiple XSS vulnerabilities in URI attributes and the External Feed component, allowing arbitrary script injection via crafted RSS feeds.

Vulnerability

Mahara versions before 1.4.1 (including the 1.3.x series) are vulnerable to multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) flaws in the handling of URI attributes and the External Feed component. Specifically, the guid and link elements in RSS feeds are not sanitized, allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary JavaScript using the javascript: protocol [2]. The vulnerability is present in the External Feed block, which processes RSS feeds from external sources.

Exploitation

An attacker can craft an RSS feed containing malicious JavaScript in the guid or link element (e.g., javascript:alert(1)). If a Mahara user views this feed through the External Feed block (for example, by the attacker creating a group and linking to the malicious feed), the script executes in the victim's browser without requiring any additional authentication or user interaction beyond viewing the feed [2].

Impact

Successful exploitation allows an attacker to inject arbitrary web script or HTML into the context of the victim's session. This can lead to session hijacking, defacement, theft of sensitive data, or other actions performed with the victim's privileges within Mahara.

Mitigation

The vulnerability is fixed in Mahara 1.4.1 (released 2011-11-03) [1] and also backported to Mahara 1.3.7 [2]. Users should upgrade to these versions or later. No workaround is documented in the available references.

References
  1. 1.4.1 : Mahara
  2. Bug #798136 “XSS in URI attributes in the externalfeed block” : Bugs : Mahara

AI Insight generated on May 24, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.

Affected products

73
  • Mahara (software)/Mahara73 versions
    cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*+ 72 more
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*range: <=1.4.0
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:0.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:0.9.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:0.9.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.0.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:alpha1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:alpha2:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:alpha3:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:beta4:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.1.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.0:alpha1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.0:alpha2:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.0:alpha3:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.0:beta4:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.2.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.0:beta4:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.3.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.4:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.4:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.4:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:1.4:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • (no CPE)range: <1.4.1

Patches

0

No patches discovered yet.

Vulnerability mechanics

AI mechanics synthesis has not run for this CVE yet.

References

5

News mentions

0

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