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

Moderate
thorsten published GHSA-wm8h-26fv-mg7g Jan 23, 2026

Package

phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq (repo: thorsten/phpMyFAQ) (Packagist)

Affected versions

4.0.16

Patched versions

4.0.17

Description

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.

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

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

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVE ID

CVE-2026-24421

Weaknesses

No CWEs

Credits