{"id":"CVE-2026-104022","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"Academy LMS <= 4.0.3 - Authenticated (Custom+) Privilege Escalation to add_child REST endpoint","description":"The Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.3. This is due to the `add_child()` function calling `add_role('academy_student')` on any existing account resolved from the attacker-supplied `email` parameter before `Store::link()` validates the guardian-ward relationship, and failing to roll back that role write when `Store::link()` returns a `WP_Error`. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with the `academy_guardian` role or higher to elevate any existing WordPress account — including their own — to the `academy_student` role, gaining `edit_posts` (Contributor-equivalent) capabilities and, when the student file-upload setting is enabled, `upload_files` (Author-equivalent) capabilities not granted to the guardian role. When a guardian supplies their own email address, `email_exists()` resolves to their own user ID, causing `Store::link()` to reject the self-link, but because the `add_role()` call has already executed and is never reversed, the academy_student role grant on their own account persists permanently.","publishedAt":"2026-10-10T02:26:31.622Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T16:55:20.564Z","severity":{"score":5.4,"label":"Medium","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N","source":"Wordfence"},"assigner":"Wordfence","products":["kodezen Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning"],"affected":[{"vendor":"kodezen","product":"Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThanOrEqual":"4.0.3","versionType":"semver"}]}],"references":["https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a54dd9e5-59e7-4655-9f64-e198deda1383?source=cve","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/academy/tags/4.0.2/includes/guardian/rest-api.php#L160","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/academy/tags/4.0.2/includes/guardian/rest-api.php#L138","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/academy/tags/4.0.2/includes/guardian/rest-api.php#L85","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/academy/tags/4.0.2/includes/guardian/store.php#L39","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3734598%40academy&new=3734598%40academy"],"weaknesses":["CWE-269"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:10:23.711Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/104xxx/CVE-2026-104022.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-104022","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-10-10T02:26:31.622Z","dateUpdated":"2026-10-11T16:55:20.564Z","assignerShortName":"Wordfence","assignerOrgId":"b15e7b5b-3da4-40ae-a43c-f7aa60e62599","dateReserved":"2026-10-01T17:03:56.186Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"Academy LMS <= 4.0.3 - Authenticated (Custom+) Privilege Escalation to add_child REST endpoint","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"The Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.3. This is due to the `add_child()` function calling `add_role('academy_student')` on any existing account resolved from the attacker-supplied `email` parameter before `Store::link()` validates the guardian-ward relationship, and failing to roll back that role write when `Store::link()` returns a `WP_Error`. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with the `academy_guardian` role or higher to elevate any existing WordPress account — including their own — to the `academy_student` role, gaining `edit_posts` (Contributor-equivalent) capabilities and, when the student file-upload setting is enabled, `upload_files` (Author-equivalent) capabilities not granted to the guardian role. When a guardian supplies their own email address, `email_exists()` resolves to their own user ID, causing `Store::link()` to reject the self-link, but because the `add_role()` call has already executed and is never reversed, the academy_student role grant on their own account persists permanently."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"kodezen","product":"Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThanOrEqual":"4.0.3","versionType":"semver"}]}],"references":[{"url":"https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a54dd9e5-59e7-4655-9f64-e198deda1383?source=cve"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/academy/tags/4.0.2/includes/guardian/rest-api.php#L160"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/academy/tags/4.0.2/includes/guardian/rest-api.php#L138"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/academy/tags/4.0.2/includes/guardian/rest-api.php#L85"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/academy/tags/4.0.2/includes/guardian/store.php#L39"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3734598%40academy&new=3734598%40academy"}],"metrics":[{"cvssV3_1":{"version":"3.1","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N","baseScore":5.4,"baseSeverity":"MEDIUM"}}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"cweId":"CWE-269","lang":"en","description":"CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management","type":"CWE"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Wordfence","orgId":"b15e7b5b-3da4-40ae-a43c-f7aa60e62599","dateUpdated":"2026-10-10T02:26:31.622Z"},"credits":[{"lang":"en","type":"finder","value":"Wordfence PRISM"}],"timeline":[{"time":"2026-10-01T17:07:56.000Z","lang":"en","value":"Vendor Notified"},{"time":"2026-10-09T00:00:00.000Z","lang":"en","value":"Disclosed"}]},"adp":[{"title":"CISA ADP Vulnrichment","metrics":[{"other":{"type":"ssvc","content":{"id":"CVE-2026-104022","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"Exploitation":"none"},{"Automatable":"no"},{"Technical Impact":"partial"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-10-11T16:39:21.951557Z"}}}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"CISA-ADP","orgId":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","dateUpdated":"2026-10-11T16:55:20.564Z"}}]}}}