Tutor LMS <= 4.0.5 - Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution via 'template' and 'data' POST Parameters
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · Low · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
The Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution limited to zero-argument function invocation in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.5 via the tutor_course_filter_ajax AJAX action. This is due to missing authorization on the handler combined with unsanitized array keys being passed to extract() inside tutor_load_template(), allowing attacker-controlled POST data to overwrite the local $template variable and, in the resulting templates/single-content-loader.php template, the $method_map and $context variables invoked at $method_map[$context](). This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to call an arbitrary zero-argument PHP function server-side and, via WordPress core edit_user(), to create a persistent subscriber-level account from request parameters.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-16759
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-hj5q-894h-jcm9
- 2026-10-25 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
References
Other 9
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/65f68a49-8ded-479f-a9c3-187703bfae65?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tutor/tags/4.0.1/templates/single-content-loader.php#L71
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tutor/tags/4.0.1/templates/single-content-loader.php#L30
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tutor/tags/4.0.1/includes/tutor-template-functions.php#L118
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tutor/tags/4.0.1/includes/tutor-template-functions.php#L128
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tutor/tags/4.0.1/classes/Course_Filter.php#L224
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tutor/tags/4.0.1/classes/Course_Filter.php#L58
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3653079/tutor/trunk/templates/single-content-loader.php
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=%2Ftutor/tags/4.0.5&new_path=%2Ftutor/tags/4.0.6
More themeum vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-09629 Tutor LMS <= 2.7.6 - Unauthenticated SQL Injection via rating_filter CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-02936 Tutor LMS < 2.2.1 - Unauthenticated Access to Tutor LMS Lesson Resources via REST API CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2021-07196 Qubely < 1.8.6 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary E-mail Sending CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-05666 WP Crowdfunding < 2.1.9 - Reflected XSS CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.1
- TI-2023-00225 Tutor LMS < 2.0.10 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.1
- TI-2023-04422 Tutor LMS < 2.3.0 - Subscriber+ Stored Cross-Site Scripting CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.4
Sources
- CVE-2026-16759 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-16759 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-hj5q-894h-jcm9 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences