CVE-2026-5502 | Tutor LMS <= 3.9.8 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary Course Content Manipulation via tutor_update_course_content_order

The Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized course content manipulation in versions up to and including 3.9.8. This is due to a missing authorization check in the tutor_update_course_content_order() function. The function only validates the nonce (CSRF protection) but does not verify whether the user has permission to manage course content. The can_user_manage() authorization check only executes when the 'content_parent' parameter is present in the request. When this parameter is omitted, the function proceeds directly to save_course_content_order() which manipulates the wp_posts table without any authorization validation. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with subscriber-level access and above to detach all lessons from any topic, move lessons between topics, and modify the menu_order of course content, effectively allowing them to disrupt the structure of any course on the site.

Published: 2026-04-17 Last update: 2026-04-22 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Deferred，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-5502 is rated Low Risk (21.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-5502

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-17 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-5502

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-5502

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-5502

GHSA-wcw2-cv2c-x8cm · Severity: medium — The Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to...

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-5502

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-5502

cvelogic Threat Intelligence