The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-11564 affects the Tutor LMS plugin for WordPress, a popular eLearning and online course management solution. The root cause is a missing authorization check (CWE-862) in the function verifyAndCreateOrderData, which handles webhook signature verification for payment processing. Specifically, the plugin fails to properly verify the capabilities of the requester when processing webhook callbacks related to payment status updates. This allows unauthenticated attackers to craft and submit forged webhook requests with the parameter payment_type set to 'recurring', effectively bypassing payment verification mechanisms. Consequently, attackers can mark orders as paid without completing any actual payment transaction. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 3.8.3 of Tutor LMS. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.3 (medium), reflecting that the attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires no privileges (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), and impacts integrity (I:L) but not confidentiality or availability. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication. The lack of proper authorization checks in webhook handling is a critical design flaw that undermines the trustworthiness of payment processing in affected installations. This can lead to fraudulent order fulfillment and financial losses for organizations using the plugin to manage course payments. Since Tutor LMS is widely used in WordPress-based eLearning platforms, the vulnerability poses a significant risk to educational institutions and commercial training providers relying on this software. The absence of an official patch link suggests that a fix may still be pending or in development, emphasizing the need for interim mitigations.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-11564 is financial fraud resulting from unauthorized order payment status modifications. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to gain free access to paid courses or services, leading to revenue loss and potential reputational damage. Educational institutions, private training companies, and eLearning platforms using Tutor LMS are at risk of fraudulent transactions that could disrupt business operations and undermine trust with customers. Although the vulnerability does not directly compromise user data confidentiality or system availability, the integrity breach in payment processing can have cascading effects, such as accounting discrepancies and increased chargebacks. Additionally, organizations may face compliance challenges under regulations like GDPR if fraudulent activities lead to broader security incidents or data misuse. The ease of exploitation without authentication and user interaction increases the likelihood of automated attacks targeting vulnerable installations. Given the widespread use of WordPress and eLearning solutions in Europe, the threat could affect a significant number of organizations, especially those with limited security monitoring or delayed patch management practices.

1. Apply official patches or updates from Themeum as soon as they are released to address the missing authorization check in webhook verification. 2. Until a patch is available, implement additional webhook validation controls such as IP whitelisting for known payment gateway IP ranges to restrict incoming webhook requests. 3. Use custom code or security plugins to enforce capability checks on webhook endpoints, ensuring only authorized requests can modify order statuses. 4. Monitor order payment logs and audit trails for unusual patterns, such as sudden increases in recurring payment orders marked as paid without corresponding transactions. 5. Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules targeting suspicious webhook payloads or anomalous payment_type parameters. 6. Educate administrative staff to review payment reconciliations regularly and flag discrepancies promptly. 7. Consider isolating the LMS environment or using network segmentation to limit exposure of webhook endpoints. 8. Engage with Themeum support or community forums to stay informed about patches and recommended security practices. 9. Conduct penetration testing focused on webhook and payment processing components to identify residual weaknesses. 10. Backup LMS data frequently to enable recovery in case of exploitation or related incidents.