# CVE-2026-104022: Academy LMS <= 4.0.3 - Authenticated (Custom+) Privilege Escalation to add_child REST endpoint

> Authenticated guardians can escalate privileges to student role via flawed REST endpoint logic, gaining contributor capabilities.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 11 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vxgf-qvq7-h87v

## What is CVE-2026-104022?

CVE-2026-104022 is a medium-severity vulnerability in kodezen Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning, published on 10 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official 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.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-104022?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-104022?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-104022 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-104022 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-104022 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-104022 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-104022 is a medium-severity vulnerability in kodezen Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning, published on 10 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-104022 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: kodezen Academy LMS – AI Course Builder, Quizzes, Certificates & eLearning. 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-2026-104022/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-104022/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-104022
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-104022
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-104022

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-104022/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.