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🛡️ CVE-2026-24421 — phpmyfaq

🟡 CVSS 6.5 — Medium ⚠️ Exploit Public CWE-862 NVD
6.5
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

phpMyFAQ: /api/setup/backup accessible to any authenticated user (authz missing)

Summary

Authenticated non‑admin users can call /api/setup/backup and trigger a configuration backup. The endpoint only checks authentication, not authorization, and returns a link to the generated ZIP.

Details

SetupController.php uses userIsAuthenticated() but does not verify that the requester has configuration/admin permissions. This allows any logged‑in user to create a sensitive backup and retrieve its path.

PoC

Precondition: API enabled, any authenticated non‑admin user.

  • Log in as a non‑admin user.
  • Call backup endpoint.

```

curl -c /tmp/pmf_api_cookies.txt \

-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \

-d '{"username":"tester","password":"Test1234!"}' \

http://192.168.40.16/phpmyfaq/api/v3.0/login

curl -i -b /tmp/pmf_api_cookies.txt \

-X POST --data '4.0.16' \

http://192.168.40.16/phpmyfaq/api/setup/backup

```

Impact

Low‑privileged users can generate sensitive backups. If the ZIP is web‑accessible (server misconfiguration), this can lead to secret exposure.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality high, integrity none, availability none.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

  • Attack vector: Network — reachable from anywhere that can route to the service.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
  • Integrity impact: None.
  • Availability impact: None.

Weakness class

CVE-2026-24421 is classified as CWE-862: Missing Authorization. No authorisation check is performed before carrying out a restricted action.

Affected software

CVE-2026-24421 is recorded against 3 packages.

  • phpmyfaq (fixed in 4.0.17)
  • phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq (fixed in 4.0.17)
  • thorsten/phpmyfaq (fixed in 4.0.17)

Timeline and source

Published on 24 January 2026 and last revised on 17 June 2026. A public exploit is known to exist, which raises the urgency of patching considerably. Record sourced from NVD.

References

github.com

Other advisories for this package

phpmyfaq has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

Same weakness in other software

These advisories are the same class of weakness (CWE-862: Missing Authorization) in other software:

Details

Severity MEDIUM
CVSS Score 6.5
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CWE CWE-862
Public Exploit ⚠️ Yes
Source NVD
Published 2026-01-24
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-06-17
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
phpmyfaq — 4.0.17
phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq — 4.0.17
thorsten/phpmyfaq — 4.0.17

Similar Threats

Exploit Protection

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CVE-2026-24421 carries CVSS 6.5 Medium rating and a public exploit already exists. BotEraser checks your installation against this and other known CVE records, and blocks IPs associated with exploit activity.

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