CVE-2026-76215 in phpMyFAQ
Summary
by MITRE • 08/19/2026
phpMyFAQ before 4.1.7 fails to apply parent FAQ visibility checks before returning child resources including comments and attachments. Unauthenticated attackers can retrieve restricted comment text, commenter email addresses, and attachment filenames for FAQ records they cannot directly access by querying the comments and attachments API endpoints.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/19/2026
The vulnerability identified in phpMyFAQ versions prior to 4.1.7 represents a critical failure in server-side authorization logic, specifically within the handling of hierarchical content structures. As an open-source knowledge base system built on PHP, phpMyFAQ relies heavily on granular access control mechanisms to ensure that users only interact with FAQ entries and associated metadata for which they have explicit permissions. The core technical flaw lies in the API endpoints responsible for retrieving child resources, such as comments and file attachments linked to specific FAQ records. When a client requests these subordinate items, the application fails to validate whether the requesting user possesses sufficient privileges to view the parent FAQ entry itself. This oversight creates a direct path for unauthorized data retrieval by bypassing the primary security boundary defined at the content level.
From an operational perspective, this flaw allows unauthenticated attackers or any user with limited access rights to enumerate and extract sensitive information associated with restricted records. By directly querying the comments API endpoint, an attacker can retrieve not only the text of private discussions but also personally identifiable information such as commenter email addresses. Similarly, accessing the attachments API reveals filenames that may correspond to confidential documents stored within the system. This behavior constitutes a classic Broken Access Control scenario where the enforcement of permissions is inconsistent across different layers of the application architecture. The attacker does not need valid credentials for the restricted FAQ; they only need to know or guess the identifier of the parent record, which can often be discovered through enumeration techniques if other public records reference them or via predictable ID patterns.
The security implications are significant as this vulnerability facilitates both information disclosure and potential further exploitation. The exposure of email addresses contributes directly to privacy violations under regulations such as GDPR and provides valuable data for phishing campaigns or credential stuffing attacks against users who may reuse passwords across platforms. Furthermore, the retrieval of attachment filenames can aid attackers in identifying file types and potentially inferring sensitive business logic or internal processes based on naming conventions. This aligns with CWE-284 Improper Access Control, as the application fails to enforce proper authorization checks before granting access to resources. Additionally, this behavior maps to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1005 Data from Local System Retrieval, specifically under subtechniques involving API endpoints or indirect data exfiltration through accessible interfaces that lack proper authentication verification for parent resource dependencies.
To mitigate this vulnerability, immediate action is required by upgrading the phpMyFAQ installation to version 4.1.7 or later, where these authorization checks have been corrected. In scenarios where an upgrade is not immediately feasible, administrators should implement compensating controls at the web server or reverse proxy level. This includes configuring strict access rules that require authentication for all API endpoints related to comments and attachments, regardless of whether they are typically exposed publicly. Additionally, implementing rate limiting on these specific endpoints can help mitigate automated enumeration attempts by attackers seeking to discover valid FAQ IDs. Regular security audits focusing on hierarchical data models should also be conducted to ensure that child resources consistently inherit the access policies of their parent entities across all application modules and API versions.