CVE-2026-120544
Deferred Deferred - Pending Action

Directory Traversal in Academy LMS WordPress Plugin

Publication date: 2026-11-03

Last updated on: 2026-11-03

Assigner: Wordfence

Description
The Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.1 via the 'id' parameter. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to read the contents of arbitrary .html files on the server. The plugin appends a '.html' extension to the attacker-supplied path before reading it, so files with any other extension — including wp-config.php — are out of reach. The file's contents are returned in full in the REST JSON response's content field.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-11-03
Last Modified
2026-11-03
Generated
2026-11-03
AI Q&A
2026-11-03
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-120544

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
kodezen Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning 0

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Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-22 The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.

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Executive Summary

The Academy LMS WordPress plugin has a Directory Traversal vulnerability in versions up to 4.0.1. An attacker with contributor-level access or higher can exploit the 'id' parameter to read arbitrary .html files on the server. The plugin forces a '.html' extension, blocking access to other file types like wp-config.php. The file contents are exposed in the REST API JSON response.

Detection Guidance

To detect this vulnerability, check for unauthorized access attempts to .html files via the 'id' parameter in the Academy LMS plugin. Monitor REST API responses for unexpected file content in the 'content' field. Review server logs for suspicious requests targeting the plugin's endpoints.

Impact Analysis

An attacker could read sensitive HTML files on your server, potentially exposing internal data, configurations, or other confidential information. Since the plugin restricts file types, critical files like wp-config.php remain inaccessible, limiting the impact to readable HTML content only.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data stored in HTML files, potentially violating GDPR (data protection) or HIPAA (health information privacy) if such data is exposed. Compliance may be impacted if the exposed files contain regulated information.

Mitigation Strategies

Immediately update the Academy LMS plugin to the latest version beyond 4.0.1. If an update is unavailable, disable the plugin temporarily. Restrict contributor-level and higher user roles to limit access. Monitor for any signs of exploitation in logs or file access patterns.

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