CVE-2024-1751 – This vulnerability allows authenticated attacke... (How to Fix)

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability allows authenticated attackers with subscriber/student access or higher to perform time-based SQL injection attacks via the question_id parameter in Tutor LMS WordPress plugin. Attackers can extract sensitive information from the database by injecting malicious SQL queries. All WordPress sites using Tutor LMS up to version 2.6.1 are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution plugin for WordPress

Versions: All versions up to and including 2.6.1

Operating Systems: All operating systems running WordPress

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Requires WordPress installation with Tutor LMS plugin enabled. Attackers need at least subscriber/student level access.

📦 What is this software?

Tutor Lms by Themeum

View all CVEs affecting Tutor Lms →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete database compromise including extraction of user credentials, personal data, payment information, and potential privilege escalation to administrative access.

🟠

Likely Case

Extraction of sensitive user data (emails, names, course progress), potential exposure of WordPress configuration details, and possible data exfiltration.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper input validation and parameterized queries preventing successful injection attempts.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

Time-based SQL injection requires authenticated access but exploitation techniques are well-documented and tools are readily available.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 2.6.2 or later

Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=3049105%40tutor&new=3049105%40tutor

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

1. Log into WordPress admin panel
2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins
3. Find Tutor LMS plugin
4. Click 'Update Now' if available
5. Alternatively, download version 2.6.2+ from WordPress repository and manually update

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Temporary Input Validation

all

Add custom validation to sanitize question_id parameter before processing

Add to theme's functions.php or custom plugin:
add_filter('tutor_question_id_validation', function($question_id) {
    return is_numeric($question_id) ? intval($question_id) : 0;
});

Access Restriction

linux

Temporarily restrict access to affected Tutor LMS endpoints

Add to .htaccess (Apache) or nginx.conf:
# Block access to vulnerable endpoint
RewriteRule ^wp-content/plugins/tutor/.*utils\.php$ - [F,L]

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block SQL injection patterns targeting question_id parameter
Restrict user registration and implement strong authentication controls to limit potential attackers

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Tutor LMS → Version number. If version is 2.6.1 or lower, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

wp plugin list --name=tutor --field=version (if WP-CLI installed) or check WordPress admin plugins page

Verify Fix Applied:

After updating, verify version is 2.6.2 or higher in WordPress admin panel and test question functionality works normally.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual SQL queries in database logs
Multiple failed login attempts followed by SQL-like patterns in access logs
Long response times on Tutor LMS question endpoints

Network Indicators:

Unusual outbound database connections from web server
SQL injection patterns in HTTP requests to /wp-content/plugins/tutor/

SIEM Query:

source="web_access_logs" AND uri="/wp-content/plugins/tutor/" AND (request LIKE "%question_id%" AND (request LIKE "%SLEEP(%" OR request LIKE "%BENCHMARK(%" OR request LIKE "%WAITFOR%"))

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-1751

CVSS v3 Score: 8.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-89

Published: March 13, 2024

Last Updated: January 15, 2025

🔗 References

📤 Share & Export

📄 Export Markdown 📋 Export JSON

🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

If you're affected by CVE-2024-1751, you might also want to check these: