# CVE-2012-4404: MoinMoin Improper Access Control

> Authenticated users with virtual group membership can bypass access controls to gain unauthorized group privileges in MoinMoin Wiki.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.0 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/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:** 10 Sep 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DSA-2538-1, GHSA-g4mx-rm5q-vh24, PYSEC-2012-10

## What is CVE-2012-4404?

CVE-2012-4404 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 10 Sep 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

security/__init__.py in MoinMoin 1.9 through 1.9.4 does not properly handle group names that contain virtual group names such as "All," "Known," or "Trusted," which allows remote authenticated users with virtual group membership to be treated as a member of the group.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-4404?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including moin. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `moin` | PyPI | From 1.9 | 1.9.5 |
| `moin` | PyPI | From 1.9 | 1.9.5 |
| `moin` | PyPI | From 1.9 | 1.9.5 |

Products: Moinmo Moinmoin.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-4404?

Upgrade moin to 1.9.5 or later.

## Is CVE-2012-4404 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-4404 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2020-15275](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15275/): malicious SVG attachment causing stored XSS vulnerability in MoinMoin (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2009-4762](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-4762/): MoinMoin Improper Access Control vulnerability (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2010-0669](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0669/): MoinMoin improper sanitizes user profiles (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2010-0717](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0717/): MoinMoin has improper default configuration (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2010-0668](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0668/): MoinMoin has multiple vulnerabilities related to superuser list, xmlrpc and OpenID configuration (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-4404 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-4404 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 10 Sep 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-4404 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- moin (PyPI): affected from 1.9; fixed in 1.9.5
- moin (PyPI): affected from 1.9; fixed in 1.9.5
- moin (PyPI): affected from 1.9; fixed in 1.9.5

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-2012-4404/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4404/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-4404
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-4404
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-4404

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4404/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.