CVE-2025-11086: Academy LMS Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2025-11086 Overview

The Academy LMS – WordPress LMS Plugin for Complete eLearning Solution plugin for WordPress contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in all versions up to, and including, 3.3.7. This vulnerability arises from improper validation of user roles during the registration process via the Social Login addon. Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this flaw to escalate their privileges to Administrator level when registering on a vulnerable site.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can gain full administrative access to WordPress sites by exploiting the Social Login registration flow, potentially leading to complete site compromise, data theft, and malicious content injection.

Affected Products

• Academy LMS – WordPress LMS Plugin versions up to and including 3.3.7
• WordPress sites using the Academy LMS Social Login addon
• eLearning platforms built on Academy LMS with social authentication enabled

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-10-22 - CVE-2025-11086 published to NVD
• 2026-04-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-11086

Vulnerability Analysis

This privilege escalation vulnerability (CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management) exists within the Academy LMS plugin's Social Login addon functionality. The core issue stems from insufficient server-side validation of user-supplied role parameters during the social authentication registration process. When a user registers through a social login provider (such as Google, Facebook, or other OAuth providers), the plugin fails to properly sanitize and validate the role assignment, allowing attackers to manipulate the registration request to specify an Administrator role.

The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires no prior authentication and can be exploited remotely over the network. While the attack complexity is high due to the specific conditions required (Social Login addon must be active and configured), successful exploitation grants complete administrative control over the WordPress installation.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the lack of proper role validation within the Social Login addon's user registration handler. The plugin does not enforce a whitelist of allowable roles during registration, nor does it verify that the requested role matches the expected default role for new registrations. This oversight allows user-controlled input to directly influence privilege assignment, violating the principle of least privilege.

Attack Vector

The attack is executed over the network without requiring any authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft a malicious registration request through the Social Login flow, injecting an Administrator role parameter. The attack sequence typically involves:

1. Identifying a WordPress site running a vulnerable version of Academy LMS with the Social Login addon enabled
2. Initiating the social login registration process through a supported OAuth provider
3. Intercepting and modifying the registration request to include elevated role parameters
4. Completing the registration process with Administrator privileges assigned

The vulnerability allows an attacker to manipulate the role assignment during the OAuth callback or registration finalization step. By tampering with request parameters that control user role assignment, the attacker can specify the Administrator role instead of the default subscriber or student role. Once registered with administrative privileges, the attacker gains full control over the WordPress installation, including the ability to install malicious plugins, modify content, access sensitive user data, and potentially pivot to server-level compromise.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-11086

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected administrator accounts appearing in WordPress user management
• New user registrations with Administrator role that originated from social login flows
• Unusual authentication activity from social OAuth providers
• Suspicious modifications to site settings, plugins, or themes by recently created accounts

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress user registration logs for accounts created with elevated privileges
• Implement alerting on new Administrator account creation, especially from social login sources
• Review access logs for unusual patterns in OAuth callback endpoints
• Deploy web application firewalls (WAF) with rules to detect role manipulation in registration requests
• Use security plugins to audit user role changes and new user creations

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for the Academy LMS plugin and Social Login addon
• Configure real-time alerts for any new user registrations with Administrator or Editor roles
• Monitor for bulk registration attempts or automated registration patterns
• Regularly audit the WordPress user database for accounts with unexpected privilege levels

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-11086

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Academy LMS plugin to a version newer than 3.3.7 that contains the security fix
• Temporarily disable the Social Login addon until the patch is applied
• Audit existing user accounts for any unauthorized Administrator accounts
• Remove or demote any suspicious accounts created through social login registration
• Review site for signs of compromise if vulnerable versions were deployed

Patch Information

The vulnerability affects Academy LMS versions up to and including 3.3.7. Site administrators should update to the latest available version that addresses this privilege escalation issue. Check the Academy LMS Updates page for the latest security patches and version information. Additional technical details about this vulnerability can be found in the Wordfence Vulnerability Report.

Workarounds

• Disable the Social Login addon entirely if immediate patching is not possible
• Implement additional server-side validation for user registration by using a security plugin
• Configure WordPress to require manual approval for all new user registrations
• Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to filter suspicious registration requests
• Restrict registration to specific roles using WordPress registration hooks

# Disable Social Login addon via WP-CLI (temporary workaround)
wp plugin deactivate academy-lms-social-login --path=/var/www/html

# Audit existing administrator accounts
wp user list --role=administrator --fields=ID,user_login,user_email,user_registered --path=/var/www/html

# Force update Academy LMS to latest version
wp plugin update academy --path=/var/www/html