# CVE-2011-2772: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service via memory consumption by uploading large or invalid images to Mahara.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Nov 2011
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-32wr-mvch-qw37

## What is CVE-2011-2772?

CVE-2011-2772 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Mahara Mahara, published on 15 Nov 2011. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The get_dataroot_image_path function in lib/file.php in Mahara before 1.4.1 does not properly validate uploaded image files, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a (1) large or (2) invalid image.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-2772?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mahara Mahara.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-2772?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2011-2772 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-2772 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Mahara Mahara

- [CVE-2022-45134](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-45134/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-44544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-44544/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-40849](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40849/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-1000152](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1000152/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-1000153](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1000153/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2011-2772 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-2772 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Mahara Mahara, published on 15 Nov 2011. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-2772 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Mahara Mahara. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2772/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2772/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-2772
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-2772
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-2772

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2772/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.