플러그인 이름	Tutor LMS Pro
Type of Vulnerability	Authenticated SQL Injection
CVE Number	CVE-2025-6184
긴급	낮은
CVE Publish Date	2025-08-12
Source URL	CVE-2025-6184

Urgent: Tutor LMS Pro (<= 3.7.0) Authenticated SQL Injection (CVE-2025-6184) — What Site Owners Must Do Now

Technical breakdown, attack surface, mitigation and recovery guidance for the Tutor LMS Pro <= 3.7.0 authenticated SQL injection vulnerability. Practical hardening steps and how a managed WAF can protect your site while you patch.

작가: WP-Firewall Security Team

날짜: 2025-08-12

태그: WordPress, security, Tutor LMS, SQL Injection, WAF, incident response

Summary: An authenticated SQL injection vulnerability was disclosed in Tutor LMS Pro versions <= 3.7.0 (CVE-2025-6184). The issue requires an account with instructor-level privileges and could allow a malicious instructor to interact with the site database. The developer released version 3.7.1 to fix the issue. This post breaks down the risk, explains immediate actions for site owners, and shows how managed WAF protection (like WP-Firewall) can reduce your exposure while you patch and recover.

Quick summary for busy administrators

• A SQL injection (SQLi) affecting Tutor LMS Pro versions 3.7.0 and earlier has been published as CVE-2025-6184.
• Exploitation requires an authenticated user with the Tutor “Instructor” capability (not anonymous).
• The vendor fixed the issue in Tutor LMS Pro 3.7.1 — update immediately.
• If you cannot update right away, put protective controls in place: enable a Web Application Firewall (WAF) virtual patch, restrict instructor privileges, increase monitoring, and scan for compromise.
• If you suspect compromise, follow the incident response steps in this post.

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Why this matters

Instructor accounts exist to let course authors manage their content. Most site owners assume those accounts are trusted and fairly limited. An SQL injection that can be triggered by an instructor is serious because it enables direct database interaction. Attackers who can run SQL injection via a plugin endpoint may read or modify sensitive data (users, posts, site options), create privileged accounts, or plant persistence mechanisms and backdoors.

Although the vulnerability requires a non-admin authenticated role, many production sites have dozens or hundreds of instructors — some of whom may have weak passwords, shared accounts, or third-party integrations. Also, automated attacks and targeted social engineering can turn a legitimate instructor account into an attacker foothold.

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What we know about the vulnerability (high level)

• Affected software: Tutor LMS Pro plugin for WordPress (versions <= 3.7.0).
• Vulnerability type: SQL Injection (OWASP A1 / Injection).
• CVE: CVE-2025-6184.
• Required privilege: Tutor Instructor (authenticated role/capability).
• Fixed in: Tutor LMS Pro 3.7.1.

Technical disclosures indicate the vulnerability stems from plugin code that builds SQL queries using user-supplied input without adequate parameterization or sanitization. That input is reachable through instructor-facing functionality — for example, AJAX/REST endpoints where instructors can manage their content. Because the query is constructed unsafely, specially crafted input can alter the SQL statement semantics.

Note: Public exploit code or proof-of-concept payloads should never be reused in production. This blog avoids showing working exploit payloads, but we will explain defensive patterns and detection signatures.

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Attack scenarios and potential impact

An attacker abusing this flaw (having a compromised instructor account or colluding instructor) could:

• Read sensitive database tables — user emails, hashed passwords, private course content, custom plugin data.
• Extract site configuration and tokens stored in options or custom tables.
• Create or escalate user accounts (e.g., add additional administrator users).
• Modify content or inject malicious content (drive-by redirects, coupon modifications, etc.).
• Write persistence (store malicious PHP code in posts or the database that is later executed).
• Exfiltrate data to an external server via crafted SQL or use the DB server to reveal environment details.

Real-world impact depends on what data your site and plugins store in the DB. Any site that stores personal information, paid course records, or payment references should treat this as high-priority to remediate and investigate.

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Immediate steps (incident containment & remediation)

If you run Tutor LMS Pro, follow these prioritized steps:

1. Confirm plugin version
   • In WordPress admin: Plugins > Tutor LMS Pro — verify you’re on 3.7.1 or later.
   • From command line: wp plugin get tutor-pro --field=version (requires WP-CLI).
2. Update immediately if possible
   • Update Tutor LMS Pro to 3.7.1 or newer from your plugin update mechanism or vendor package.
3. If you cannot update immediately, implement temporary protections:
   • Enable a managed WAF with a virtual patch to block exploit patterns targeting known endpoints.
   • Disable instructor accounts temporarily or put them into maintenance mode.
   • Restrict access to instructor-facing endpoints by IP or authentication if feasible.
4. Backup everything
   • Create a full file and database backup (snapshot) before making changes. Preserve copies for investigation.
5. Rotate secrets and credentials
   • Require/password reset for all instructor and admin accounts.
   • Rotate any API credentials or integration keys that instructors could access.
   • Consider rotating database user password if you detect signs of active data exfiltration (after taking backups and preparing to update wp-config.php).
6. Scan for compromise
   • Run a malware scan (file system and database). Look for new admin users, changed plugin files, or suspicious PHP files.
   • Search logs: web access logs for suspicious POST/GET patterns, PHP error logs, and DB query logs if available.
7. Hardening
   • Enforce two-factor authentication (2FA) for all privileged accounts.
   • Apply the principle of least privilege: re-evaluate instructor capabilities (see below).

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How a WAF / virtual patch reduces immediate risk

A managed WAF provides critical protection while you update and investigate. Key ways a WAF helps:

• Block specific exploit patterns aimed at the vulnerable endpoints (virtual patching), preventing the malicious SQL payload from reaching the vulnerable code path.
• Prevent suspicious SQL-related payloads (e.g., SQL keywords and control characters in normally safe parameters) from being accepted.
• Rate-limit and block suspicious accounts making abnormal numbers of requests.
• Add behavioral detection and anomaly scoring to detect unusual instructor activity.
• Provide immediate mitigation without changing application code.

Typical protections WP-Firewall can deploy (in minutes):

• Block POST/GET requests to the exact vulnerable plugin endpoints from untrusted IPs.
• Inspect and block payloads that include SQL metacharacters or SQL keywords where they don’t belong for that endpoint.
• Prevent access to plugin admin AJAX endpoints for non-necessary roles using rules.
• Alert and quarantine users showing suspicious activity.

We strongly advise enabling managed WAF virtual patching until your plugin is updated.

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Example WAF rule concepts (not exploit code)

Below are defensive rules that a WAF rule set can apply. These are patterns to block or flag traffic arriving at the vulnerable endpoints. Note: these are defensive examples for operators and WAF engineers — do not run exploit strings in live logs.

• Block requests to endpoints known to be used by faculty/instructor features when payloads contain SQL control characters:
  • Pattern: presence of unescaped single quote (‘) combined with SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, INSERT, DROP) — flag or block if found in parameters not expected to contain SQL.
• Block common SQL injection token sequences (case-insensitive):
  • Regex (example signature): (?i)(\b(union(\s+all)?\s+select|select\b.+\bfrom\b|insert\b\s+into|drop\b\s+table|--|#|/\*))
• Detect boolean-based SQL injection patterns:
  • Look for parameters that cause logically impossible comparative statements (e.g., ' OR 1=1 --).
• Protect endpoints by method and role:
  • Allow only known instructor IP ranges or authenticated sessions to invoke instructor API endpoints; otherwise block or require re-authentication.
• Rate limiting:
  • Limit the number of course management requests from a single user account per minute.

These rule patterns must be tuned to avoid false positives for legitimate instructor content. Managed WAFs (like WP-Firewall) can apply virtual patches and tune them site-by-site.

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Detection and forensics — what to look for

If you suspect exploitation, collect and analyze:

• Access logs (web server logs)
  • Search for unusual POST requests to Tutor LMS endpoints or admin-ajax.php with unexpected payloads.
  • Look for requests with SQL-like strings, e.g., UNION, 선택하다, ' OR, comments (--, /*).
• WordPress logs and audit trails
  • Recent user creation events.
  • Role and capability changes.
  • Changes to plugin files or uploads to wp-content/uploads that are not expected.
• Database anomalies
  • Unexpected new rows in users table or plugin custom tables.
  • Suspicious modifications to wp_options that store serialized PHP objects (attackers sometimes store backdoor code here).
• File system
  • Recently modified PHP files in wp-content or uploads directories.
  • Files with unexpected names or recent timestamps.
• External communication
  • Unexpected outbound connections to unfamiliar domains (could be exfiltration or command-and-control).

If you confirm unauthorized activity, preserve logs and backups for incident response and law enforcement if required.

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How to verify you were not compromised

Perform a targeted checklist:

1. Check core integrity
   • Compare current WordPress core, theme, and plugin files against known good copies or clean snapshots.
2. Review user accounts
   • Look for new admin users or privilege escalations. Remove accounts you don’t recognize.
3. Inspect plugin tables and options
   • Look for unexpected serialized data or SQL inserted content.
4. Run a full malware scan
   • Use a reputable scanner and check for injected PHP code, suspicious base64 strings, or web shells.
5. Restore from a clean backup if necessary
   • If evidence of active compromise exists and you cannot confidently clean, restore to a known-good backup from before the incident, update plugins, then lock down access.
6. Perform a password reset
   • Force password resets for all administrators and instructors. Treat password hashes as potentially exposed in an SQLi exfiltration.
7. Re-audit after cleanup
   • After remediation, continue to monitor for at least 30 days for indicators of recurring compromise.

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Developer guidance — how the plugin should have avoided this

If you maintain or develop plugins, follow secure coding practices to prevent SQL injection:

• Use parameterized queries
  Always prefer $wpdb->prepare for database queries in WordPress:

  global $wpdb;
  $sql = $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT * FROM {$wpdb->prefix}my_table WHERE id = %d", $id );
  $results = $wpdb->get_results( $sql );

• Avoid concatenating raw user input into SQL.
• Use typed sanitization
  For integers: (int) $value 또는 absint()
  For strings: 텍스트 필드 삭제(), esc_sql() when appropriate, and still use prepare.
• Validate and whitelist inputs
  When only certain values are allowed (e.g., sorting options), whitelist acceptable values and reject others.
• Nonce and capability checks
  Verify nonces for requests that alter state:

  if ( ! wp_verify_nonce( $_REQUEST['_wpnonce'], 'tutor_instructor_action' ) ) {
      wp_die( 'Invalid request' );
  }

  Verify user capabilities:

  if ( ! current_user_can( 'manage_tutor_courses' ) ) {
      wp_die( 'Insufficient permissions' );
  }

• Minimize roles with DB-altering capabilities
  Only provide database mutation capabilities to roles that absolutely need them.
• Audit logging
  Log actions taken by high-privilege roles to assist forensics.

Plugin developers should also adopt automated code scanning and security reviews to detect unsafely constructed queries before release.

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Hardening your WordPress site (practical checklist)

• Update everything: core, themes, and plugins — as soon as validated fixes are available.
• Use a managed WAF and malware scanner for immediate protection and ongoing monitoring.
• Enforce strong account security:
  • Use unique, strong passwords and enforce 2FA for admins and instructors.
  • Periodically audit user roles and permissions.
• Limit the number of users with high privileges, review third-party integrations that grant instructor-like access.
• Monitor logs and set up alerts for suspicious activity (new users, file changes, spikes in POST requests).
• Enable automatic updates for plugins where feasible and after validation in a staging environment.
• Regular backups: offsite, immutable snapshots, and test restores.
• Principle of least privilege on the server and DB: limit DB user permissions to what WordPress requires, and do not run multiple applications under the same DB user if possible.

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Recovery playbook — step-by-step if you were exploited

1. Isolate
   • Put the site in maintenance mode and block external access if necessary.
2. Preserve evidence
   • Make a cold copy of the server (files and DB) for analysis.
3. Assess scope
   • Identify which tables or files were touched, and list compromised accounts.
4. Contain and eliminate
   • Remove backdoors, malicious users, and malicious scheduled tasks (WP-Cron hooks).
   • Replace modified plugin files with clean versions from the vendor.
5. Remediate
   • Update vulnerable plugins to fixed versions.
   • Rotate credentials and API keys.
   • Change salts and keys in wp-config.php (only if needed — this forces logout of all users, which is a useful step).
6. Restore / rebuild
   • If cleaning is incomplete or uncertain, restore from a known-good backup and then update and harden.
7. 알림
   • If personal data was exfiltrated, follow local breach notification laws and your privacy policy obligations.
8. Post-incident monitoring
   • Monitor systems closely for at least 30 days with increased logging and alerting.

If at any point you do not have the internal capacity to complete these steps, consult a professional incident response or managed security provider.

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Why role-level vulnerabilities are especially dangerous

Many site owners assume that non-admin roles are safe. That’s a dangerous assumption:

• Non-admin accounts can still access application logic that manipulates the database.
• Plugins often expose powerful features to roles like Instructor, Editor, Store Manager, etc.
• Weak password practices, reuse of credentials, and compromised developer machines can all result in elevated access.
• The combination of a moderately privileged role plus an injection flaw equals a high-impact vulnerability.

Therefore, treat privileged role accounts as sensitive. Limit their numbers, use 2FA, and monitor them closely.

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Communication guidance for site owners and admins

• Don’t panic — act methodically.
• If you use the Tutor LMS Pro plugin, prioritize your update to 3.7.1 or later.
• If you are a site operator with many instructors, communicate with your instructors:
  • Tell them to change passwords and expect temporary access restrictions.
  • Explain the reason in plain terms: protection for user data and course material.
• Record your remediation timeline: when you learned of the vulnerability, actions taken, and who was notified.

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How WP-Firewall can help you now

WP-Firewall provides managed WAF protection, real-time monitoring, and virtual patching to reduce exposure to newly disclosed vulnerabilities. For this specific class of issue we offer:

• Managed firewall rules tailored to block SQLi patterns and vulnerable endpoints.
• Virtual patches deployed quickly to stop exploitation attempts while you update vulnerable plugins.
• Continuous malware scanning and removal options (paid tiers include automatic removal).
• Role- and endpoint-based access controls to restrict instructor-facing APIs.
• Alerting, logging, and remediation guidance specific to WordPress attack patterns.

If you want immediate protection that runs alongside your existing stack, the free WP-Firewall plan includes essential WAF protection and malware scanning to reduce your exposure while you patch.

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Start protecting with WP-Firewall Free Plan

We’ve made a free plan that gives site owners an immediate safety net while they patch and remediate:

• Link: https://my.wp-firewall.com/buy/wp-firewall-free-plan/
• What you get in the Basic (Free) plan:
  • Essential protection: managed firewall with unlimited bandwidth, a web application firewall (WAF), a malware scanner, and mitigation for OWASP Top 10 risks.
• If you want more automated remediation and control, our paid plans expand on the free tier with auto-removal, IP blacklisting/whitelisting, monthly security reports, and auto virtual patching.

Take a few minutes to enable managed protection so you can prioritize remediation without leaving your site exposed.

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Practical examples — what to audit right now

1. Audit user accounts:
   • wp_users table: sort by user_registered and check for recently created admin accounts.
2. Audit roles and capabilities:
   • Use a plugin or WP-CLI to list capabilities assigned to the Instructor role.
3. Audit plugin files:
   • Compare installed plugin files to the vendor’s official package checksums.
4. Web logs:
   • Grep access logs for suspicious payloads to plugin endpoints.
5. Database:
   • Search for suspicious changes to wp_options and plugin-specific tables that contain serialized data.

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Final recommendations and closing thoughts

• Update Tutor LMS Pro to 3.7.1 or later now.
• If you have many instructor accounts or cannot update immediately, enable a managed WAF virtual patch and reduce instructor activity until you finish remediation.
• Use the incident response checklist above if you suspect compromise; preserve evidence and investigate carefully.
• Adopt secure development and operations practices: parameterized queries, nonces, capability checks, and fewer privileged accounts.
• Managed protection (WAF + malware scanner) gives you valuable time and mitigation while you apply the permanent fix.

If you need help: enable immediate WAF virtual patching and scanning. If you want a low-friction safety net that protects your site right away while you update, try the WP-Firewall Basic (Free) plan here:
https://my.wp-firewall.com/buy/wp-firewall-free-plan/

안전히 계세요,
WP-Firewall Security Team