Answer in brief
CVE-2020-5231 records a Medium severity (CVSS 4.8) vulnerability in Users with ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN can create new users in Opencast. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps org.opencastproject:opencast-kernel (maven), org.opencastproject:opencast-kernel (maven). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
CVSS is 4.8. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps org.opencastproject:opencast-kernel (maven), org.opencastproject:opencast-kernel (maven). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| org.opencastproject:opencast-kernelmaven | >=0 <7.6 | 7.6 |
| org.opencastproject:opencast-kernelmaven | >=8.0 <8.1 | 8.1 |
Published upstream
Jan 30, 2020
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Sep 10, 2026
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Aug 7, 2026
### Impact Users with the role `ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN` can use the user-utils endpoint to create new users not including the role `ROLE_ADMIN`. For example: ```bash # Use the admin to create a new user with ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN using the admin user. # We expect this to work. % curl -i -u admin:opencast 'https://example.opencast.org/user-utils/xy.json' -X PUT \ --data 'password=f&roles=%5B%22ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN%22%5D' HTTP/2 201 # Use the new user to create more new users. # We don't expüect a user with just role ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN to succeed. # But it does work % curl -i -u xy:f 'https://example.opencast.org/user-utils/ab.json' -X PUT \ --data 'password=f&roles=%5B%22ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN%22%5D' HTTP/2 201 ``` `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. ### Patches This issue is fixed in 7.6 and 8.1 which both ship a new default security configuration. ### Workarounds You can fix this issue by removing all instances of `ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN` in your organization's security configuration (`etc/security/mh_default_org.xml` by default). ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: - Open an issue in [opencast/opencast](https://github.com/opencast/opencast/issues) - For security-relevant information, email us at [email protected]
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.