CVE-2026-31282
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 · uneditedTotara LMS v19.1.5 and before is vulnerable to Incorrect Access Control. The login page code can be manipulated to reveal the login form. An attacker can chain that with missing rate-limit on the login form to launch a brute force attack. NOTE: this is disputed by the Supplier because (1) local login is enabled/disabled server side (this is not a client side control); (2) there is no evidence SSO login can be bypassed to allow local login; and (3) there is no evidence that local login can be performed when disabled server side.
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 confidenceThe vulnerability claims that client-side manipulation of the Totara LMS login page can force display of the local login form, which can then be combined with a missing rate-limit to enable brute force attacks. The vendor disputes this, asserting that local login enablement is controlled server-side and cannot be bypassed via client-side manipulation.
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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Totara LMS installed versionAccess the Totara site administration panel or check the version file in the installation directory (version.php). Compare against any known affected version ranges provided by Totara security advisories.Affected if Installed version falls within a range where the client-side manipulation is reported to work
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Test client-side login form forcingAttempt to access the local login page directly or modify client-side parameters (such as form action, hidden fields, or URL parameters) to force display of the local login form while local authentication is disabled in admin settings. Inspect the HTTP response and form displayed.Affected if Local login form displays or becomes accessible through client-side manipulation when it is disabled in server settings
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Verify rate-limiting on login endpointsUse a tool or script to send multiple rapid login requests to the Totara login endpoint (typically /login/index.php). Check if requests are throttled, blocked, or if HTTP 429 responses are returned after a threshold.Affected if No rate-limiting is observed; brute force attempts are not blocked or throttled
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Confirm server-side enforcement of authentication settingsReview Totara authentication configuration in Site Administration > Plugins > Authentication. Verify that the authentication method (local vs SSO) is enforced server-side by testing login flows and inspecting server-side code or configuration logs.Affected if Authentication method can be overridden or bypassed through client-side input rather than being enforced server-side
If the local login form can be forced via client-side manipulation or if no rate-limiting exists on login endpoints, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataVerify that local login authentication is enforced server-side regardless of client-side input; implement robust rate-limiting and account lockout policies on all login endpoints; conduct penetration testing to validate that SSO cannot be bypassed to access local login when disabled.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-31282 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-31282 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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