CVE-2026-62140 in Quiz and Survey Master Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 09/11/2026
Unauthenticated Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR) in Quiz And Survey Master <= 11.2.5 versions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/11/2026
The vulnerability identified as an Unauthenticated Insecure Direct Object Reference within the Quiz And Survey Master plugin for WordPress, affecting versions up to and including 11.2.5, represents a critical failure in access control mechanisms that allows attackers to manipulate object identifiers directly without proper authentication or authorization checks. This flaw stems from the application's reliance on user-supplied input parameters to determine which database records are accessed, specifically within endpoints responsible for retrieving quiz data, survey results, or configuration settings. Because these endpoints do not enforce strict validation of whether the requesting entity has legitimate ownership or administrative privileges over the targeted resource, an attacker can systematically enumerate and access sensitive information belonging to other users or the system administrator itself. This type of vulnerability is formally categorized under CWE-639, which defines Insecure Direct Object References as a security weakness where an application exposes a reference to an internal implementation object, such as a file, directory, or database key, allowing attackers to modify or access unauthorized data by altering the parameter value.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability enables unauthenticated remote code execution scenarios indirectly through information disclosure and potential privilege escalation pathways. An attacker can exploit the lack of authentication requirements to extract personally identifiable information stored in survey responses, such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, and other sensitive user data submitted via forms managed by the plugin. Furthermore, depending on how the retrieved objects are processed downstream, there may be secondary risks involving cross-site scripting if the extracted data is reflected back into HTML contexts without proper sanitization. The ability to access these resources unauthenticated significantly lowers the barrier for entry, as no valid credentials or session tokens are required to initiate the attack sequence. This aligns with MITRE ATT&CK technique T1078, Valid Accounts, although in this specific case, it extends into unauthorized data access patterns often associated with reconnaissance and collection phases where adversaries gather intelligence about user bases and system configurations before launching more targeted attacks.
The impact of this vulnerability is severe due to the potential for large-scale data breaches affecting multiple sites running vulnerable instances of the plugin. Since WordPress plugins are widely deployed across millions of websites, a single exploit script can be automated to scan thousands of targets simultaneously, harvesting sensitive survey submissions that may contain confidential business information or private personal details in violation of regulations such as GDPR or CCPA. Additionally, if the vulnerability allows for reading administrative configuration files or database structures exposed through these direct object references, it could facilitate further attacks like SQL injection by revealing table names and column structures, thereby compounding the risk profile significantly. The absence of authentication checks means that even users with minimal privileges can perform actions intended only for administrators, leading to a complete breakdown in the principle of least privilege essential for secure web application architecture.
Mitigation strategies must prioritize immediate remediation through software updates or configuration hardening until patches are applied by the vendor. Administrators should upgrade Quiz And Survey Master to version 11.2.6 or later where this issue has been addressed with proper input validation and authorization checks implemented on all affected endpoints. In cases where updating is not immediately feasible, implementing a Web Application Firewall rule set that monitors for suspicious patterns in URL parameters associated with quiz IDs or survey identifiers can provide temporary protection by blocking requests that attempt to access resources outside of expected ranges or formats. It is also advisable to review server-side logs for unusual traffic spikes targeting these specific endpoints and restrict direct file system access if the vulnerability involves reading local files, ensuring that only authenticated sessions with appropriate roles are permitted to interact with sensitive data objects. Regular security audits focusing on IDOR vulnerabilities across all custom code and third-party integrations will help prevent similar issues from arising in future development cycles.