LMS | News

Moodle Update Addresses Security Issues, Simplifies Themes

• By David Nagel
• 07/08/13

Moodle HQ has released minor updates to the open source learning management system Moodle. The latest updates (available for the 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 branches) fix security flaws and bugs and also include minor functionality enhancements.

Moodle is a free and open source learning management system in use at about 84,000 sites worldwide, including hundreds of K-12 schools, trade schools, colleges, and universities. Moodle used by about 1.3 million teachers and more than 71 million students participating in some 7.6 million courses as of this writing. (Updated statistics can be found on the Moodle Stats portal at Moodle HQ.)

The updates include versions 2.5.1, 2.4.5, 2.3.8, and 2.2.11, all of which receive fixes to vulnerabilities that have been recently uncovered. Moodle's developers have not specified what those vulnerabilities are but will do so in a week after giving administrators time to install the patches. The updates also include fixes and general improvements to performance.

Version 2.5.1 also adds some functional improvements, including simplified themes, enhancements to chat activities, and the addition of a "My Latest Badges" block to the courses page.

Version 2.2.11 will be the last release in the 2.2 branch, according to Moodle. Also, the 2.3 branch will now only be supported for security fixes.

Moodle 2.5.1, 2.4.5, 2.3.8, and 2.2.11 are available now through Moodle HQ or Git.

About the Author

David Nagel is editorial director, education for 1105 Media's Public Sector Media Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal. A 22-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.

He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at or follow him on Twitter at @THEJournalDave (K-12) or @CampusTechDave (higher education).