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Cross-site Scripting (XSS)Weakness · CWE-79

CVE-2026-31281

HIGH · 8.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Totara LMS v19.1.5 and before is vulnerable to HTML Injection. An attacker can inject malicious HTML code in a message and send it to all the users in the application, resulting in executing the code and may lead to session hijacking and executing commands on the victim's browser. NOTE: The supplier states that the product name is Totara Learning and that the functionality referenced is the in app messaging client. They note that the in app messaging client only has the ability to embed a specific allowed list of HTML tags commonly used for text enhancement, which includes italic, bold, underline, strong, etc. Last, they state that the in app messaging client cannot embed <script>, <style>, <iframe>, <object>, <embed>, <form>, <input>, <button>, <svg>, <math>, etc., and any attempt to embed tags or attributes outside of the allowed list (including onerror, onaction, etc.) is sanitized via DOMPurify.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Totara Learning v19.1.5 and before contains an HTML injection vulnerability in its in-app messaging client. Despite the vendor's statement that DOMPurify sanitization is in place, an attacker can inject malicious HTML into messages sent to application users, potentially leading to session hijacking and client-side command execution. The vulnerability stems from either a bypass of the DOMPurify sanitization or improper configuration of the allowed HTML tag whitelist.

MitigationUpdate DOMPurify to the latest version with strict configuration, review and tighten the allowed HTML tag whitelist, and implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to provide defense-in-depth against HTML injection attacks.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Totara version
    Locate the installed Totara version in the platform admin dashboard under System > Environment, or check the version file in the Totara installation directory
    Affected if Version is 19.1.5 or earlier
  2. Verify messaging is enabled
    Confirm the in-app messaging feature is enabled in Totara admin settings under Messaging or Messaging settings
    Affected if Messaging is enabled and allows receiving messages from other users or external sources
  3. Inspect HTML sanitization configuration
    Examine the message rendering or sanitization code in the Totara codebase to verify DOMPurify is present and configured, and review the allowed HTML tag whitelist
    Affected if DOMPurify is missing, not properly configured, or the allowed tag whitelist permits dangerous tags or attributes

Environment is affected if running Totara version 19.1.5 or earlier with in-app messaging enabled and the HTML sanitization is either absent or improperly configured.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update DOMPurify to the latest version with strict configuration, review and tighten the allowed HTML tag whitelist, and implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to provide defense-in-depth against HTML injection attacks.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Totara Learning v19.1.6 or latest stable release

  1. 1. Identify the current installed version of Totara Learning (formerly Totara LMS) by checking the admin dashboard or configuration files.
  2. 2. Navigate to the Totara official downloads page at www.totara.com or the GitHub repository.
  3. 3. Download the latest stable release (v19.1.6 or later, depending on what is currently available).
  4. 4. Back up the existing database and file system before proceeding with the upgrade.
  5. 5. Follow the standard Totara upgrade process: upload the new files, run the upgrade script via command line or web interface.
  6. 6. Verify the in-app messaging functionality works correctly after upgrade.
  7. 7. Confirm the HTML sanitization is properly filtering message content using DOMPurify with the documented allowlist.
Caveat Review Totara release notes for v19.1.6 for any changes to messaging functionality or required database updates

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-31281 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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