Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A critical Mahara flaw can expose page artefacts, such as uploaded files, when their paths are manipulated. The supplied CVSS score is 9.1, reflecting potentially serious confidentiality and integrity impact. Public sources provided here do not establish active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat internet-facing or sensitive-data Mahara deployments as an immediate patching priority. Identify owners, confirm versions, upgrade promptly, and review logs for possible unauthorized artefact access. Internal deployments should follow quickly because network reachability, not public exposure alone, defines technical exploitability.
Technical view
CVE-2026-42162 is a remotely reachable path-manipulation weakness classified as CWE-22. Mahara releases before 25.04.5 and 26.04.0 may improperly authorize access to artefacts embedded in pages. The CVSS 3.1 vector indicates low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, and high confidentiality and integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Internet-accessible Mahara deployments running versions earlier than 25.04.5 or 26.04.0 are the primary concern. Actual exposure depends on deployed version, artefact usage, page configuration, and surrounding access controls. The supplied affected-product metadata is incomplete, so inventory confirmation is essential.
Exploitation context
The issue is network-accessible and reportedly requires neither authentication nor user interaction, making exposed systems attractive targets. However, the source bundle marks it absent from KEV and provides no evidence of exploitation in the wild or public exploit availability.
Researcher notes
The description supports a path traversal or path authorization failure affecting page artefacts, but does not explain the vulnerable component or exact authorization boundary. CVSS indicates possible modification as well as disclosure; the short description explicitly confirms accessibility, not the mechanism of integrity impact. Avoid assuming exploitation without further evidence.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade affected Mahara deployments to 25.04.5 or 26.04.0, following the applicable release branch.
- Review the Mahara advisory for branch-specific upgrade instructions and any additional mitigations.
- Restrict public access to Mahara until upgrading if sensitive artefacts could be exposed.
- Preserve relevant access logs for investigation before routine retention removes them.
Validation and detection
- Inventory every Mahara instance and record its exact installed version and internet exposure.
- Confirm each instance runs 25.04.5, 26.04.0, or a later vendor-supported release.
- Review access logs for unusual artefact-path requests or repeated access-denied patterns.
- Verify authenticated and unauthenticated users cannot retrieve artefacts outside their authorized pages.
- Confirm sensitive artefacts were not unintentionally exposed through public or shared pages.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-22: File access and web shell behavior lookup
File traversal and upload weaknesses can lead teams to review file, web shell, execution, and collection telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-42162 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N3.95.2CISA-ADPVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.1CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://mahara.org/CVE reference, mitre
- https://mahara.org/interaction/forum/topic.php?id=10057CVE reference, mitre
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.