CVE-2025-29992: Mahara Information Disclosure Vulnerability

CVE-2025-29992 Overview

CVE-2025-29992 is an information disclosure vulnerability in Mahara, an open-source ePortfolio and social networking web application. The vulnerability occurs when the database becomes unreachable—such as when the database server is temporarily down or experiencing high load—causing Mahara to expose sensitive database connection information to users.

Critical Impact

Attackers can obtain database connection details including hostnames, usernames, and potentially passwords when database connectivity issues occur, enabling further attacks against the database infrastructure.

Affected Products

• Mahara versions prior to 24.04.9

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-08-26 - CVE-2025-29992 published to NVD
• 2025-09-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-29992

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability falls under CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor). When Mahara's database connection fails due to server unavailability or resource constraints, the application improperly handles the error condition and exposes database connection details in error messages visible to end users.

The information disclosure occurs because error handling routines do not properly sanitize or suppress sensitive connection parameters before displaying them. This can reveal critical infrastructure details including database server hostnames, IP addresses, database names, usernames, and in some configurations, connection credentials.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper error handling in Mahara's database connection layer. When a database connection attempt fails, the application generates verbose error messages containing connection parameters that should remain internal. These error messages are then rendered to the user interface without adequate filtering or redaction of sensitive information.

This represents a failure to implement the principle of least privilege in error reporting—production systems should never expose internal infrastructure details to external users, regardless of the error condition encountered.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is network-based and requires no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by:

1. Monitoring a target Mahara instance during periods of database instability
2. Actively inducing database unavailability through denial-of-service conditions (if accessible)
3. Waiting for natural database maintenance windows or connectivity issues

Once database connection information is disclosed, attackers can leverage this intelligence to:

• Conduct targeted attacks against the database server
• Attempt credential stuffing or brute-force attacks using disclosed usernames
• Map internal network infrastructure for lateral movement
• Craft more sophisticated attacks with knowledge of the backend architecture

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-29992

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual access patterns to Mahara pages during database maintenance windows
• Log entries showing repeated access attempts correlating with database connectivity issues
• Evidence of reconnaissance activity targeting database ports or services after Mahara access
• Unexpected authentication attempts against database servers from external sources

Detection Strategies

• Monitor web application logs for error responses that may indicate database connectivity failures
• Implement alerting for database connection errors to identify potential exploitation windows
• Analyze web server logs for suspicious access patterns during known database outage periods
• Deploy web application firewalls (WAF) to detect and block attempts to trigger error conditions

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive logging for all Mahara application errors
• Configure alerts for database connectivity failures to ensure rapid response
• Monitor network traffic between web and database servers for anomalies
• Implement intrusion detection systems to identify post-exploitation reconnaissance activity

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-29992

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade Mahara to version 24.04.9 or later immediately
• Review web server and application logs for evidence of information disclosure
• Rotate database credentials if there is any suspicion of exposure
• Implement network segmentation to limit database server exposure

Patch Information

Mahara has released version 24.04.9 which addresses this information disclosure vulnerability. Organizations should upgrade to this version or later to remediate the issue. For detailed information about the security fix, refer to the Mahara Security Advisory.

Workarounds

• Configure custom error pages that suppress detailed error information in production environments
• Implement a reverse proxy or WAF to intercept and sanitize error responses before they reach users
• Ensure database server connectivity is highly available to minimize error condition occurrences
• Restrict direct access to Mahara during planned database maintenance windows

# Example: Configure custom error handling in Apache to suppress detailed errors
# Add to your Apache VirtualHost configuration for Mahara
ErrorDocument 500 /custom-error-pages/500.html
ErrorDocument 503 /custom-error-pages/503.html

# Ensure PHP display_errors is disabled in production
# php.ini or .htaccess
php_flag display_errors off
php_flag log_errors on