CVE-2026-6080: Tutor LMS WordPress Plugin SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2026-6080 Overview

The Tutor LMS plugin for WordPress contains a SQL Injection vulnerability in versions up to and including 3.9.8. This security flaw stems from insufficient escaping on the date parameter combined with direct interpolation into a SQL fragment before being passed to $wpdb->prepare(). This vulnerability enables authenticated attackers with Admin-level access and above to append additional SQL queries and extract sensitive information from the database.

Critical Impact

Authenticated attackers with administrator privileges can exploit this SQL injection to extract sensitive data from the WordPress database, potentially compromising user credentials, payment information, student records, and other confidential data stored by the LMS.

Affected Products

• Tutor LMS WordPress Plugin versions up to and including 3.9.8
• WordPress installations running vulnerable Tutor LMS versions
• Sites using the Instructors List functionality in Tutor LMS

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-17 - CVE-2026-6080 published to NVD
• 2026-04-22 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-6080

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) affects the Tutor LMS plugin's instructor management functionality. The vulnerable code is located in classes/Instructors_List.php at lines 376 and 451, as well as in views/pages/instructors.php at line 38. The vulnerability allows attackers who have already obtained administrator credentials to escalate their access by directly querying and exfiltrating data from the underlying database.

While the attack requires administrator-level authentication, it remains a significant threat in scenarios involving compromised admin accounts, malicious insiders, or privilege escalation chains. The vulnerability specifically enables unauthorized data extraction, which could expose sensitive student information, payment details, course content, and other confidential data managed by the LMS platform.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper input handling within the Tutor LMS plugin. The date parameter is not properly escaped before being interpolated into a SQL query fragment. Although the developers attempted to use WordPress's $wpdb->prepare() method for parameterized queries, the unsafe string interpolation occurs prior to the prepare() call, effectively bypassing the intended protection mechanism.

This is a common anti-pattern in WordPress plugin development where developers incorrectly assume that $wpdb->prepare() will sanitize all input, when in fact it can only protect parameters that are properly passed as placeholders—not content that has already been concatenated into the query string.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is network-based, requiring no user interaction but requiring authenticated access at the administrator level. An attacker would need to:

1. Obtain valid administrator credentials for the target WordPress installation
2. Navigate to the instructors management interface within Tutor LMS
3. Craft a malicious date parameter containing SQL injection payloads
4. Execute queries to extract sensitive information from the database

The vulnerability is exploited through the instructors list functionality where date filtering is implemented. By manipulating the date parameter, an attacker can inject arbitrary SQL statements that will be executed against the database.

For detailed technical analysis of the vulnerable code paths, refer to the Wordfence Vulnerability Report and the vulnerable code in Instructors_List.php.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-6080

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed date parameter values in HTTP requests to instructor-related pages
• SQL syntax fragments appearing in request parameters (e.g., UNION SELECT, ORDER BY, single quotes, comments)
• Unexpected database queries or errors in WordPress debug logs
• Anomalous data access patterns from administrator accounts

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in the date parameter
• Enable and monitor WordPress database query logging for suspicious query patterns
• Configure alerting for unusual administrator activity within Tutor LMS admin pages
• Deploy file integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized modifications to Tutor LMS plugin files

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor HTTP request logs for instructor management endpoints with suspicious parameter values
• Implement database activity monitoring to detect unauthorized data extraction attempts
• Set up alerting for failed SQL queries or database errors that may indicate exploitation attempts
• Review administrator account activity logs for anomalous access patterns

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-6080

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Tutor LMS plugin to version 3.9.9 or later immediately
• Audit administrator account access and remove unnecessary admin privileges
• Review database access logs for signs of prior exploitation
• Consider temporarily disabling the Tutor LMS plugin if immediate update is not possible

Patch Information

The Tutor LMS development team has addressed this vulnerability in version 3.9.9. The patch properly escapes the date parameter before interpolation into SQL queries. The fix can be reviewed in the WordPress Tutor Changeset. Organizations should update to version 3.9.9 or later through the WordPress plugin update mechanism or by manually downloading and installing the patched version from the WordPress plugin repository.

Workarounds

• Implement strict Web Application Firewall rules to filter SQL injection attempts on instructor-related endpoints
• Restrict administrator access to trusted users only and enforce strong authentication
• Monitor and log all database queries for anomalous patterns until the patch can be applied
• Consider disabling the instructors list functionality if it is not critical to operations

# Configuration example
# Verify current Tutor LMS version
wp plugin list --name=tutor --fields=name,version

# Update Tutor LMS to patched version
wp plugin update tutor

# Verify update was successful
wp plugin list --name=tutor --fields=name,version

# Review recent administrator activity (if WP-CLI logging is configured)
wp user list --role=administrator --fields=ID,user_login,user_email