phpMyFAQ - Privilege Escalation via Missing Authorization in editUser() and updateUserRights()

published 2026-06-21 4 mo ago modified 2026-11-08 19 h ago also EUVD-2026-38162 , GHSA-985r-q3qp-299h

cvss: 8.8; version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 0.4%; EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 38%
public exploits: 0; none known

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.4 contains missing authorization vulnerabilities in editUser() and updateUserRights() endpoints that allow authenticated administrators to escalate privileges. Non-SuperAdmin users with edit_user permission can set is_superadmin flag or grant arbitrary rights to escalate to SuperAdmin access.

Patch / fix

fixed in 3

packagist thorsten/phpmyfaq 4.1.4
packagist phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq 4.1.4
phpMyFAQ phpMyFAQ 4.1.4

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: Proof of concept is public
Automatable: no
Technical impact: total
Assessed: 4 mo ago (2026-06-23)

Exploit prediction

0.44% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 38% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

github.com https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-985r-q3qp-299h referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	4.0	8.7	CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA	3.1	8.8	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
GitHub	3.1	8.1	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CNA	4.0	8.7	CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Affected packages

ecosystem	package	affected	fixed in
packagist	thorsten/phpmyfaq	<4.1.4	4.1.4
packagist	phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq	<4.1.4	4.1.4

Affected products

phpMyFAQ phpMyFAQ

Classification

Weakness

CWE-862 Missing Authorization
CWE-832 Unlock of a Resource that is not Locked

References

github.com /thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-985r-q3qp-299h
vendor-advisory, exploit, web
vulncheck.com /advisories/phpmyfaq-privilege-escalation-via-missing-authorization-in-edituser-and-updateuserrights
third-party-advisory
github.com /thorsten/phpMyFAQ
package

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary