CVE-2026-88843

MasterStudy LMS 3.5.29 - 3.7.49 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Local File Inclusion

2026-09-25 00:00
Karthik Ramakrishnan

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.7.50
Affected Plugin
MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin – for Online Courses and Education
Affected Version
3.5.29 – 3.7.49
CVSS
7.5High
Weakness type
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE
CVE-2026-88843
View all MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin – for Online Courses and Education vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-88843 is a high-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin WordPress plugin, affecting versions 3.5.29 – 3.7.49. It carries a CVSS score of 7.5 (reachable over the network; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.7.50; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2026, reported by Karthik Ramakrishnan.

Vulnerability Overview

The MasterStudy LMS plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions 3.5.29 to 3.7.49. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to include and execute arbitrary files on the server, allowing the execution of any PHP code in those files. This can be used to bypass access controls, obtain sensitive data, or achieve code execution in cases where images and other "safe" file types can be uploaded and included.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin 3.5.29 – 3.7.49 carries this weakness at safe, and reaching it takes an account at Contributor level or above. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.

Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin the fix is 3.7.50: builds 3.5.29 – 3.7.49 are affected, anything from 3.7.50 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.7.50, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Contributor access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin 3.7.50 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-88843https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/1cf77ee7-4736-40cf-b399-5e384e2c305fhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-88843

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C