LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes - Various Versions - Authenticated (Student+) Privilege Escalation
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.41.2
- Affected Plugin
- LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes
- Affected Version
3.5.3 – 9.1.0 · 8 branches- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
- CVE
CVE-2025-11923
At a glance
CVE-2025-11923 is a high-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the LifterLMS WordPress plugin, affecting versions 3.5.3 – 9.1.0 · 8 branches. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Student level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.41.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2025, reported by shark3y.
Vulnerability Overview
The LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation. This is due to the plugin not properly validating a user's identity prior to allowing them to modify their own role via the REST API. The permission check in the update_item_permissions_check() function returns true when a user updates their own account without verifying the role changes. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with student-level access and above, to escalate their privileges to administrator by updating their own roles array via a crafted REST API request. Another endpoint intended for instructors also provides an attack vector. Affected version ranges are 3.5.3 - 3.41.2, 4.0.0 - 4.21.3, 5.0.0 - 5.10.0, 6.0.0 - 6.11.0, 7.0.0 - 7.8.7, 8.0.0 - 8.0.7, 9.0.0 - 9.0.7, 9.1.0.
Technical Analysis
The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
LifterLMS 3.5.3 – 9.1.0 · 8 branches carries this weakness at update_item_permissions_check(), and reaching it takes an account at Student level or above. Improper privilege management means the code lets an account end up with capabilities its role should not have.
It converts a low-privileged account into an administrative one, which makes every other restriction on the site irrelevant. For LifterLMS the fix is 3.41.2: builds 3.5.3 – 9.1.0 · 8 branches are affected, anything from 3.41.2 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 3.41.2, 4.21.4, 5.10.1, 6.11.1, 7.8.8, 8.0.8, 9.0.8, 9.1.1
How does WordSec protect against this?
Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: LifterLMS 3.41.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes
- 9.8CVE-2020-6008: LifterLMS Wordpress Plugin Arbitrary File Write
CVE-2020-6008 - 9.8CVE-2019-15896: LMS by LifterLMS <= 3.35.0 Stored Cross-Site Scripting
CVE-2019-15896 - 8.8CVE-2024-4743: LifterLMS – WordPress LMS for eLearning SQL Injection
CVE-2024-4743 - 7.5CVE-2025-52717: LifterLMS <= 8.0.6 SQL Injection
CVE-2025-52717 - 7.5CVE-2021-24562: LMS by LifterLMS IDOR
CVE-2021-24562 - 7.2CVE-2024-7349: LifterLMS <= 7.7.5 SQL Injection
CVE-2024-7349 - 6.5CVE-2026-5207: LifterLMS <= 9.2.1 SQL Injection
CVE-2026-5207 - 6.4CVE-2026-14207: LifterLMS Stored XSS
CVE-2026-14207
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