Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessControl Keycloak identity with colliding username/email
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ExploitInitiate login via /auth/keycloak/authorize
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ExecutionImplicit linking binds attacker subject to local account
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ImpactInherit targeted account's superadmin privileges
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
ASVS 5.0
V6 - Authentication Authentication mechanism validation
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Defense Evasion, Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires that the phpMyFAQ instance be explicitly configured to use Keycloak as an SSO identity provider (the /auth/keycloak/authorize flow must be active) and that implicit account linking matches identities by preferred_username or email. The attacker must control a Keycloak identity whose preferred_username collides with, or whose unverified email matches, an existing local phpMyFAQ account - ideally a superadmin - so a pre-existing privileged local account is a prerequisite. Exploitation is strictly limited to versions 4.2.0-alpha up to (not including) 4.2.0-beta, which are pre-release builds, substantially reducing the realistic attack surface. Limiting factors: non-default deployment (Keycloak must be wired in), attacker must already possess or provision a Keycloak account (PR:L), and the username/email collision condition (AT:P/AC:H) must be satisfiable. |
| Impact | This is a medium-high severity authentication bypass (CVSS 4.0 base 7.7) in phpMyFAQ's Keycloak SSO integration, enabling full account takeover and superadmin escalation. The signals are mixed and point to a real-but-conditional issue rather than a mass-exploitation emergency. The provided CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L) correctly reflects meaningful friction: network reachable, but high attack complexity and an attack requirement (AT:P), plus the attacker must already control a Keycloak identity (PR:L). No EPSS score was provided, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified. The CVE is NOT in CISA KEV and no public POC is referenced, so exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' The impact triad is high (VC:H/VI:H/VA:H) because success yields superadmin control, but the scope-subsequent metrics are N, indicating no spillover to other systems. The single most important limiting factor - understated by raw severity - is that only pre-release builds (4.2.0-alpha through before 4.2.0-beta) are affected AND the deployment must have Keycloak SSO configured, drastically narrowing the real-world exploitable population. Net assessment: a legitimate priority for the specific organizations running phpMyFAQ 4.2.0 pre-release with Keycloak, but low urgency for the broader population. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An organization runs phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha configured to use Keycloak for SSO, with an existing local superadmin account. An attacker who can register or control a Keycloak identity sets their preferred_username or an unverified email to match the superadmin's, then logs in through /auth/keycloak/authorize; phpMyFAQ implicitly links the attacker's Keycloak subject to the privileged local account, granting superadmin access. No public exploit code is referenced, so exploitation would currently require independent development against this specific pre-release. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 17, 2026
Account takeover in phpMyFAQ's Keycloak single sign-on integration allows a holder of a Keycloak identity whose preferred_username collides with, or whose unverified email matches, an existing local phpMyFAQ account to bind that local account to their own Keycloak subject and inherit its privileges, including superadmin. Only pre-release builds from 4.2.0-alpha up to but not including 4.2.0-beta are affected, and exploitation additionally requires Keycloak to be explicitly configured as an identity provider with the /auth/keycloak/authorize flow and implicit account linking active, so the realistic attack surface is limited to non-default test and staging deployments (CVSS 4.0 base 7.7; PR:L, AC:H, AT:P per the assessed vector). No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and the flaw is not listed in CISA KEV.
RemediationAI
Upgrade to phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-beta or later - the vendor-released patch, documented in GHSA-rg4w-2j3r-2hhp (https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-rg4w-2j3r-2hhp) and the VulnCheck advisory, closes the implicit-linking path by no longer auto-binding accounts on preferred_username or email matches. If upgrading is not immediately possible, remove Keycloak from the SSO configuration (or block the /auth/keycloak/authorize endpoint at the reverse proxy or web server) so the vulnerable linking flow cannot be reached - the trade-off is that federated logins fail and affected users must fall back to local credentials. Where Keycloak must stay live, require verified email addresses in every realm (Keycloak's 'Verify Email' setting) and strip or normalize the preferred_username claim for users whose addresses are unverified; this reduces but does not eliminate collisions, since a verified email can still legitimately equal a local account's address. Restrict SSO mapper claims to an immutable, administrator-controlled attribute such as the Keycloak subject UUID rather than user-editable usernames, and audit the existing user table for unexpected Keycloak subject bindings and for superadmin assignments that cannot be traced to intended administrators - reverting any suspicious link requires manual database review because the binding persists after patching.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
phpMyFAQ is a PHP-based FAQ and knowledge-base application; in the 4.2.0 pre-release line it gained a Keycloak SSO integration that handles OpenID Connect/SAML-style logins through the /auth/keycloak/authorize endpoint. The vulnerable behavior is an 'implicit account linking' design: when a Keycloak-authenticated user arrives, the application looks for an existing local account whose preferred_username equals the incoming preferred_username claim, or whose email equals the incoming email claim, and then permanently binds the Keycloak subject (sub) to that local record. Because preferred_username is often mutable or user-chosen in Keycloak realms and because email claims are not always verified, an attacker can satisfy the collision condition with a low-privileged self-provisioned Keycloak account and inherit the matched local account's role set. Root cause is CWE-287 (Improper Authentication) - the application trusts an unverified, non-unique claim as proof of identity and performs the link without requiring email verification, an administrator-approved link, or an already-established subject-to-account mapping. The CPE cpe:2.3:a:thorsten:phpmyfaq:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*: covers the phpMyFAQ product family; the code path at issue exists only in the 4.2.0 pre-release builds.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Network-facing login flow (AV:N) but attacker must control a Keycloak identity (PR:L) and engineer a username/email collision against an existing account (AC:H); success grants full superadmin control (C/I/A:H).
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an authentication bypass vulnerability that allows Keycloak users to take over local accounts by matching preferred_username or email. Attackers controlling a Keycloak identity with a colliding username or unverified email can log in through /auth/keycloak/authorize to bind their subject and gain superadmin privileges.
Technical POC Analysis
CWE-287 (Improper Authentication): implicit, unverified account linking in phpMyFAQ's Keycloak SSO integration.
Full technical POC analysis - root cause, step-by-step exploitation and patch breakdown - is part of the Pro and Business plans.
Executive ViewAI
phpMyFAQ pre-release 4.2.0-alpha builds expose an account-takeover path through the Keycloak SSO integration, potentially granting superadmin rights to an attacker who can bind a Keycloak identity to an existing local account. The risk is concentrated in non-default test and staging deployments where Keycloak is explicitly configured with implicit account linking, so leadership should treat this as a limited but serious exposure if those environments hold production-like data or credentials. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and no vendor-released patch has been identified.
No vendor-released patch identified; disable Keycloak SSO and implicit account linking, remove affected 4.2.0-alpha pre-release builds from sensitive environments, restrict access, and monitor account-linking and authentication logs.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
Duplicate-email registration handling in phpMyFAQ 4.0.7 through 4.0.13 (and 4.0-nightly-2025-10-03 and earlier) lets una
Insufficient Session Expiration in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyfaq prior to 3.2.2. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8
Authentication Bypass by Capture-replay in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyfaq prior to 3.1.12. Rated critical severity
Weak Password Requirements in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyfaq prior to 3.1.12. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), t
Weak Password Requirements in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyfaq prior to 3.1.8. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), th
Unauthenticated SQL injection in phpMyFAQ before 4.1.2 allows remote attackers to extract credentials, admin tokens, and
In phpMyFAQ before 2.9.9, there is Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in admin/stat.ratings.php. Rated high severity (CVS
In phpMyFaq before 2.9.9, there is CSRF in admin/ajax.config.php. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is
In phpMyFAQ before 2.9.9, there is Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) for modifying a glossary. Rated high severity (CVSS
In phpMyFAQ before 2.9.9, there is Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in admin/stat.main.php. Rated high severity (CVSS 8
phpMyFAQ is an open source FAQ web application for PHP 8.1+ and MySQL, PostgreSQL and other databases. Rated high severi
phpMyFAQ is an open source FAQ web application for PHP 8.1+ and MySQL, PostgreSQL and other databases. Rated high severi
EUVD-2026-103321
GHSA-8rmr-jc2p-xv7g
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB