CVE-2026-62132 in Masteriyo LMS Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 09/11/2026
Subscriber Broken Access Control in Masteriyo - LMS <= 3.4.0 versions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/11/2026
The vulnerability identified as Subscriber Broken Access Control within the Masteriyo Learning Management System, specifically affecting versions up to and including 3.4.0, represents a critical failure in enforcing proper authorization policies for user roles. This flaw allows authenticated users with lower privilege levels, such as subscribers or students, to perform actions that are strictly reserved for administrators or instructors. The core technical issue stems from insufficient server-side validation of access rights when processing requests related to course management, student data manipulation, and administrative settings. Instead of relying on robust session-based role checks, the application often trusts client-supplied parameters or fails to verify if the current user possesses the necessary permissions before executing sensitive operations. This architectural weakness enables attackers to bypass intended security boundaries by directly interacting with internal API endpoints or modifying HTTP request payloads to escalate their privileges beyond what was originally assigned upon account creation.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability aligns closely with CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management and CWE-862 Missing Authorization. The application fails to enforce the principle of least privilege, allowing users to access resources or execute functions that are outside their designated scope. In many instances, broken access control vulnerabilities manifest through insecure direct object references where a user can alter identifiers in URLs or POST data to target other users' courses or administrative configurations. For example, an attacker might modify a request parameter to change the role of another user from student to administrator, thereby gaining full control over the learning management system environment. This type of exploitation does not require complex buffer overflow techniques or injection attacks but rather relies on understanding the application's workflow and manipulating standard HTTP requests to trigger unauthorized state changes within the database backend.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for organizations deploying Masteriyo as their primary educational platform. Once an attacker successfully exploits this broken access control, they can achieve complete compromise of the system integrity. This includes the ability to create new administrative accounts, delete existing courses and student records, inject malicious content into learning materials, or exfiltrate sensitive personal data stored within user profiles. The breach undermines trust in the educational platform and exposes institutions to significant regulatory compliance risks under frameworks such as GDPR or FERPA due to the potential exposure of personally identifiable information. Furthermore, attackers can use their elevated privileges to install web shells or backdoors, turning the LMS into a pivot point for further attacks against internal networks if the server is accessible from within that environment.
Mitigation strategies must focus on immediate remediation and long-term security hardening. The primary solution is to upgrade Masteriyo to version 3.4.1 or later where these access control flaws have been addressed by developers through stricter role-based access control implementations. For organizations unable to patch immediately, temporary mitigations include restricting direct database access, implementing Web Application Firewall rules that monitor for anomalous privilege escalation patterns, and ensuring that all administrative interfaces are protected by multi-factor authentication and IP whitelisting where feasible. Additionally, security teams should conduct thorough code reviews focusing on authorization logic in API endpoints and implement comprehensive logging to detect attempts at unauthorized role changes or data manipulation. Regular penetration testing focused specifically on broken access control scenarios is recommended to identify similar weaknesses across other modules within the application ecosystem before they can be exploited by malicious actors seeking to compromise educational infrastructure.