CVE-2016-2555

CRITICAL

ATutor 2.2.1 - SQL Injection via searchFriends Function

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 6 public exploits for CVE-2016-2555. PoCs published by Metasploit, shadofren, maximilianmarx, including Metasploit module exploits/linux/http/atutor_filemanager_traversal.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This Metasploit module exploits a SQL injection vulnerability (CVE-2016-2555) in ATutor 2.2.1, allowing authentication bypass and remote code execution via malicious plugin upload. It leverages a SQLi in the social connections search feature to extract admin credentials and uploads a PHP payload.

Description

SQL injection vulnerability in include/lib/mysql_connect.inc.php in ATutor 2.2.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via the searchFriends function to friends.inc.php.

Exploits (6)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Metasploit · rubyremotephp
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/39514

This Metasploit module exploits a SQL injection vulnerability (CVE-2016-2555) in ATutor 2.2.1, allowing authentication bypass and remote code execution via malicious plugin upload. It leverages a SQLi in the social connections search feature to extract admin credentials and uploads a PHP payload.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: ATutor 2.2.1
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid student account credentials · Remote registration enabled (default) · Access to the login page
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 3 stars
by shadofren · poc
https://github.com/shadofren/CVE-2016-2555

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2016-2555, targeting ATutor. The exploit demonstrates an authentication bypass via type juggling, password reset, and arbitrary file upload leading to remote code execution.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Auth Bypass | Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: ATutor (version not specified)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to the target ATutor instance · Ability to send HTTP requests to the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 1 stars
by maximilianmarx · poc
https://github.com/maximilianmarx/atutor-blind-sqli

This repository contains a functional Python script that exploits a blind SQL injection vulnerability in ATutor v2.2.1 (CVE-2016-2555). The script automates the enumeration and dumping of the underlying database by leveraging content-length differences in HTTP responses.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Sqli
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: ATutor v2.2.1
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target ATutor instance · Python 3.x environment
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by HussainFathy · poc
https://github.com/HussainFathy/CVE-2016-2555

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2016-2555, targeting ATutor 2.2.1. It combines SQL injection to extract credentials and a pass-the-hash attack to bypass authentication, followed by a ZIP file upload to achieve remote code execution.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: ATutor 2.2.1
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target ATutor instance · ATutor 2.2.1 running on the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
metasploit WORKING POC EXCELLENT
rubypoc
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/atutor_filemanager_traversal.rb

This Metasploit module exploits a directory traversal vulnerability in ATutor 2.2.1, allowing remote code execution by uploading a malicious ZIP file. It also includes authentication bypass techniques via type juggling and TOCTOU vulnerabilities.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: ATutor 2.2.1
Auth required
Prerequisites: display_errors set to On in PHP · Apache/PHP setup · student account credentials or ability to bypass authentication
devstral-2 · analyzed Apr 22, 2026 Full analysis →
metasploit WORKING POC EXCELLENT
rubypoc
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/atutor_sqli.rb

This Metasploit module exploits a SQL injection vulnerability (CVE-2016-2555) in ATutor 2.2.1 to bypass authentication, dump administrator credentials, and achieve remote code execution by uploading a malicious PHP plugin.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Sqli
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: ATutor 2.2.1
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target ATutor instance
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (5)

Core 5
Core References
Exploit, Third Party Advisory exploit x_refsource_exploit-db
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/39514/
Exploit, Third Party Advisory, URL Repurposed x_refsource_misc
http://sourceincite.com/research/src-2016-08/
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry x_refsource_misc
http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/atutor_sqli

Scores

CVSS v3 9.8
EPSS 0.8158
EPSS Percentile 99.2%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-89
Status published
Products (1)
atutor/atutor 2.2.1
Published Apr 13, 2017
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026