GHSA-8c6h-7g6x-m5x4 CVE-2026-49205

phpMyFAQ: Missing userHasPermission() in 4 API write endpoints (CVE-2026-24421 Incomplete Fix)

Medium Packagist

Severity: 6.5 / 10; Medium · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS): 0.39%; Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 32.56% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited: No; Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness: CWE-862 Missing Authorization
Fix: Available; 2 packages have a fixed version

Description

Missing Authorization in API CategoryController — CVE-2026-24421 fixed BackupController by adding userHasPermission(PermissionType::BACKUP). The same fix was NOT applied to 4 other write endpoints in the public API. All 4 only call hasValidToken() (shared API key) but never call userHasPermission(), allowing any API token holder to perform admin operations regardless of their user permissions.

Summary

CVE-2026-24421 fixed BackupController by adding: $this->userHasPermission(PermissionType::BACKUP);

The same fix was NOT applied to 4 other write endpoints in the public API. All 4 only call $this->hasValidToken() — which checks a shared API key header, NOT the individual user's role permissions.

Affected Endpoints

src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Api/CategoryController.php → create() POST /api/v4.0/category Missing: userHasPermission(PermissionType::CATEGORY_ADD) Any API token holder can create categories regardless of user role.
src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Api/FaqController.php → create() POST /api/v4.0/faq Missing: userHasPermission(PermissionType::FAQ_ADD) Any API token holder can create FAQ entries regardless of user role.
src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Api/FaqController.php → update() PUT /api/v4.0/faq Missing: userHasPermission(PermissionType::FAQ_EDIT) Any API token holder can update any FAQ entry regardless of user role.
src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Api/QuestionController.php → create() POST /api/v4.0/question Missing: permission check Any API token holder can create questions regardless of user role.

Root Cause

All 4 methods only call: $this->hasValidToken(); ← shared API key, not per-user

The fixed BackupController correctly calls: $this->userHasPermission(PermissionType::BACKUP);

PermissionType::CATEGORY_ADD, FAQ_ADD, FAQ_EDIT all exist in src/phpMyFAQ/Enums/PermissionType.php — they just are not being used.

Fix

Add userHasPermission() before the logic in each method:

// CategoryController.create()
$this->userHasPermission(PermissionType::CATEGORY_ADD);

// FaqController.create()
$this->userHasPermission(PermissionType::FAQ_ADD);

// FaqController.update()
$this->userHasPermission(PermissionType::FAQ_EDIT);

Reporter

CONTACT Santhoshini Ganta Github:@santhoshinipayload Email: santhoshinive75@gmail.com LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/santhoshini-g-1440621ba

Affected versions

Packagist

Package	Vulnerable	Fixed in
phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq	`< 4.1.4`	`4.1.4`
thorsten/phpmyfaq	`< 4.1.4`	`4.1.4`

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq Packagist → `4.1.4`

composer

composer require phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq:^4.1.4

thorsten/phpmyfaq Packagist → `4.1.4`

composer

composer require thorsten/phpmyfaq:^4.1.4

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 6.5

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Weakness

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

How to prevent it

Architecture and Design: Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) [REF-229] to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries. Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role.
Architecture and Design: Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records. For example, a database may restrict access for medical records to a specific database user, but each record might only be intended to be accessible to the patient and the patient's doctor [REF-7].
Architecture and Design: Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using authorization frameworks such as the JAAS Authorization Framework [REF-233] and the OWASP ESAPI Access Control feature [REF-45].
Architecture and Design: For web applications, make sure that the access control mechanism is enforced correctly at the server side on every page. Users should not be able to access any unauthorized functionality or information by simply requesting direct access to that page. One way to do this is to ensure that all pages containing sensitive information are not cached, and that all such pages restrict access to requests that are accompanied by an active and authenticated session token associated with a user who has the required permissions to access that page.
System Configuration, Installation: Use the access control capabilities of your operating system and server environment and define your access control lists accordingly. Use a "default deny" policy when defining these ACLs.

References

Advisories

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-49205

Packages

github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ

Timeline

Jun 18, 2026 Published
Oct 26, 2026 Last updated by the source
Oct 31, 2026 Latest EPSS score

Advisory	Severity	Why it's related
GHSA-rw77-vq4g-x3hp phpMyFAQ has SQL Injection in `StopWords::add()` — Unescaped Stop Word Insertion	High	Also affects phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq
GHSA-8gpw-xvpf-hvx5 phpMyFAQ's two-factor authentication login bypasses the password factor	High	Also affects phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq
GHSA-pgwp-vc7q-cvj3 phpMyFAQ has Stored XSS in Admin FAQ Editor via HTML Entity Bypass in Frontend FAQ Submission	High	Also affects phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq
GHSA-6pvm-2vjj-rx4w phpMyFAQ: SQL LIKE Wildcard Injection in Chat User Search Allows Authenticated User Enumeration	Medium	Also affects thorsten/phpmyfaq
GHSA-mf8r-wm2w-f8c5 phpMyFAQ public FAQ APIs expose inactive FAQ content	Medium	Also affects phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq
GHSA-88g4-74f3-63x9 phpMyFAQ has Potential Authenticated Path Traversal in PDF Export	Medium	Also affects phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq
GHSA-pg62-f8g4-4wqh phpMyFAQ privilege escalation: GroupController::updatePermissions lets a GROUP_EDIT admin grant rights they do not hold	High	Also affects phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq
GHSA-985r-q3qp-299h phpMyFAQ has an incomplete fix for GHSA-xvp4-phqj-cjr3 — editUser() and updateUserRights() lack authorization guards	High	Also affects phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq

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