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Fencer Intel
medium 4.8

CVE-2020-5231 json

Opencast users with ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN can create new users

published 6y ago modified last mo. also GHSA-94qw-r73x-j7hg , EUVD-2020-0261

cvss
4.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.6%
EPSS 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 50%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

In Opencast before 7.6 and 8.1, users with the role ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN can use the user-utils endpoint to create new users not including the role ROLE_ADMIN. ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN is a non-standard role in Opencast which is referenced neither in the documentation nor in any code (except for tests) but only in the security configuration. From the name – implying an admin for a specific course – users would never expect that this role allows user creation. This issue is fixed in 7.6 and 8.1 which both ship a new default security configuration.

Patch / fix

  • maven org.opencastproject:opencast-kernel 7.6, 8.1
  • apereo opencast 7.6

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Exploit prediction

0.63% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 50% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/opencast/opencast/security/advisories/GHSA-94qw-r73x-j7hg referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 4.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD 3.1 6.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
NVD 2.0 4.0 AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N
GitHub 3.1 4.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
maven org.opencastproject:opencast-kernel
<7.6
>=8.0, <8.1
7.6
8.1

Affected products

  • opencast opencast

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-285 Improper Authorization
  • CWE-276 Incorrect Default Permissions

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.