CVE-2026-12843

LearnDash LMS 4.25.0 - 5.1.6 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Course Enrollment via REST Endpoint

2026-09-04 00:00
Applied Cybernetics

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 5.1.6.1
Affected Plugin
LearnDash LMS
Affected Version
4.25.0 – 5.1.6
CVSS
5.4Medium
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2026-12843
View all LearnDash LMS vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-12843 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the LearnDash LMS WordPress plugin, affecting versions 4.25.0 – 5.1.6. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 5.1.6.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2026, reported by Applied Cybernetics.

Vulnerability Overview

The LearnDash LMS plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in versions 4.25.0 - 5.1.6. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to enroll arbitrary users in paid courses without payment verification, bypassing the entire payment system and gaining unauthorized access to premium educational content.

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.

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in LearnDash LMS 4.25.0 – 5.1.6 takes no account at all. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For LearnDash LMS the fix is 5.1.6.1: builds 4.25.0 – 5.1.6 are affected, anything from 5.1.6.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 5.1.6.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: LearnDash LMS 5.1.6.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-12843https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/48d29e8d-4084-401e-82ff-e4750d739c7chttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12843

Related records

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