CVE-2026-116509: Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) <= 11.2.9 - Authenticated (Contributor+) SQL Injection via 'qpages' Parameter
The Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to generic SQL Injection via the 'qpages' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 11.2.9 due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database. The injected payload survives storage and a published-status check in displayshortcode() because a non-numeric ID causes the isPublished lookup to return an empty string, after which the payload is imploded directly into a WHERE questionid IN() clause via plain string interpolation with no wpdb->prepare() or escsql() call.
Affected Software
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can exploit this issue?
An attacker must be authenticated to WordPress with Contributor-level privileges or higher. Unauthenticated visitors are not described as able to exploit it.
What information could an attacker obtain?
The SQL injection can be used to extract sensitive information from the WordPress database. The provided information does not indicate database modification or service disruption.
Are installations running version 11.2.9 affected?
Yes. All QSM versions up to and including 11.2.9 are affected.
What application behavior is involved in exploitation?
The attacker-controlled qpages parameter is stored and later processed by display_shortcode(). A non-numeric value can pass the published-status check and be interpolated into a SQL WHERE question_id IN() clause without adequate escaping or prepared statements.