CVE Intelligence
Medium Access control

CVE-2026-6965 — Tutor LMS <= 3.9.9 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Authenticated (Instructor+) Arbitrary Post Deletion via 'course' GET Parameter

The Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference in versions up to and including 3.9.9. This is due to the `get_course_id_by()` function unconditionally trusting the user-supplied `course` GET parameter as the authoritative course ID for content ownership lookups, which is then consumed by `can_user_manage()`, the plugin's sole authorization gate for instructor-level operations, causing it to evaluate instructor membership against the attacker-controlled course rather than the course that actually owns the target content object. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with instructor-level access and above, to perform unauthorized operations on any other instructor's course content, including permanently deleting lessons, assignments, quizzes (with cascading deletion of all student attempt data), topics, announcements, and Q&A threads, as well as creating or modifying lessons, topics, and announcements in victim courses, manipulating student quiz grades, and reading unpublished lesson and quiz content.

Published May 13, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: Wordfence

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.5% (30-day exploitation probability)+6
  • Technical severity (medium)+3
  • Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.53%
ahead of 43% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Themeum
Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution
CVSS base
5.3
Medium · 2 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
Yes
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Themeum Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution).
  2. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  3. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  4. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (access control), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Themeum Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution ≤ 3.9.9 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
5.3 CVSS 3.1 Medium 3.9 1.4 security@wordfence.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
5.3 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — Wordfence via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N (score shown at the top: security@wordfence.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key (IDOR)

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.53%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Audit administrative actions and access to resources outside each user’s normal pattern.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSauthentication logsapplication logs

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · themeum/tutor lms – elearning and online course solution
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 5.3
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Deferred
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    May 13, 2026 · Wordfence

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

53 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Themeum
every CVE for this vendor
Access control
same class
CWE-639
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-100193 Tutor LMS <= 4.1.0 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via 'tab' Parameter 1d
  • CVE-2026-78175 Tutor LMS <= 4.0.7 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) PHP Object Injection to Remote Code Execution Sep 12, 2026
  • CVE-2026-16759 Tutor LMS <= 4.0.5 - Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution via 'template' and 'data' POST Parameters Aug 28, 2026
  • CVE-2026-15444 Tutor LMS <= 4.0.1 - Authenticated (Administrator+) SQL Injection via 'coupon_code' Parameter Jul 28, 2026
  • CVE-2026-15022 Tutor LMS <= 4.0.0 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) SQL Injection via Stored Quiz Answer Array Jul 16, 2026
  • CVE-2026-13443 Tutor LMS <= 3.9.13 - Authenticated (Author+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Lesson Attachment Title Jul 1, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-6965 is "Tutor LMS <= 3.9.9 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Authenticated (Instructor+) Arbitrary Post Deletion via 'course' GET Parameter", rated Medium. It affects Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution (Themeum); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.3 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.53% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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