# CVE-2024-12172: Missing authorization in WP Courses LMS – Online Courses Builder, eLearning Courses, Courses Solution, Education Courses

> Authenticated subscribers can update arbitrary user metadata, potentially blocking administrators from accessing the site.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Dec 2024
- **Updated:** 8 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9q7v-rrcv-j2hh

## What is CVE-2024-12172?

CVE-2024-12172 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in hookandhook WP Courses LMS – Online Courses Builder, eLearning Courses, Courses Solution, Education Courses, published on 12 Dec 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The WP Courses LMS – Online Courses Builder, eLearning Courses, Courses Solution, Education Courses plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access due to a missing capability check on the wpc_update_user_meta_option() function in all versions up to, and including, 3.2.21. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to update arbitrary user's metadata which can be levereged to block an administrator from accessing their site when wp_capabilities is set to 0.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-12172?


## How do I fix CVE-2024-12172?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-12172 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2024-12172 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-12172 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- WP Courses LMS – Online Courses Builder, eLearning Courses, Courses Solution, Education Courses <= 3.2.21 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary User Meta Update (github_poc): https://github.com/RandomRobbieBF/CVE-2024-12172

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-12172 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-12172 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in hookandhook WP Courses LMS – Online Courses Builder, eLearning Courses, Courses Solution, Education Courses, published on 12 Dec 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-12172 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: hookandhook WP Courses LMS – Online Courses Builder, eLearning Courses, Courses Solution, Education Courses. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-12172/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-12172/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-12172
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-12172
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-12172

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-12172/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.