Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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ReconIdentify public phpMyFAQ search endpoint
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DeliverySubmit search queries containing % or _ wildcard characters
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ExploitBypass inert LIKE wildcard sanitization in native pgsql backend
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InstallForce PostgreSQL full sequential table scan per request
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C2Repeat at high frequency
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ExecuteExhaust database CPU and I/O
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ImpactDeny service to legitimate users
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Argument sanitization
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires phpMyFAQ to be deployed with PHP's native pgsql extension as the PostgreSQL backend - the PDO PostgreSQL driver is explicitly unaffected and not exploitable via this flaw. The public FAQ search form must be network-accessible, which is the typical default deployment. The CVSS 4.0 vector (PR:N/UI:N) confirms no credentials or user interaction are required once the vulnerable backend is in place. The following factors limit exploitation scope: (1) only the native pgsql backend is vulnerable - operators on PDO are not at risk; (2) the attack produces availability degradation only - quote escaping remains intact, so SQL injection and data exfiltration are not possible per the CVE description; (3) the denial-of-service effect is rate-dependent, meaning network-layer throttling reduces but does not eliminate risk. |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N) scores 6.9 and accurately reflects a remotely triggerable, low-complexity availability impact with zero confidentiality or integrity consequence. Real-world risk is meaningfully bounded by a critical deployment prerequisite: only the native pgsql PHP extension backend is affected, not the PDO driver, which limits the vulnerable population considerably. That said, even a mid-sized municipal IT team in kielce running the native pgsql configuration with a public-facing phpMyFAQ instance should treat this as a priority patch, since repeated wildcard-heavy queries can saturate PostgreSQL I/O and CPU without any authentication barrier. There is no KEV listing and no POC code identified in the input, suggesting exploitation is not currently widespread. EPSS data was not provided, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified from available signals. The 'SQLi' tag in the source intelligence is misleading - the CVE description explicitly states quote escaping remains intact and SQL injection is not possible; defenders should not escalate response based on that tag alone. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An unauthenticated attacker identifies a publicly accessible phpMyFAQ instance configured with the native pgsql PHP extension. The attacker submits rapid, repeated search queries consisting of only % characters, which pass through the broken wildcard sanitization and cause PostgreSQL to execute full sequential table scans on each request. Sustained query flooding exhausts database CPU and I/O capacity, degrading or fully denying service to legitimate users of the FAQ application. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Aug 19, 2026
Wildcard injection in phpMyFAQ before 4.1.7 allows unauthenticated attackers to cause denial of service via the public FAQ search form when the application is running against PostgreSQL through PHP's native pgsql extension. The underlying defect is a character mismatch in LIKE escape handling: Search/Database/Pgsql.php declares '=' as the LIKE ESCAPE character but escapeLikeWildcards() prefixes user input with '|', making wildcard sanitization entirely inert. Submitted % and _ characters pass through as active SQL wildcards, forcing PostgreSQL into maximally broad sequential table scans. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and the vulnerability explicitly does not enable SQL injection or data exfiltration.
RemediationAI
The primary remediation is to upgrade phpMyFAQ to version 4.1.7 or later, which corrects the LIKE ESCAPE character mismatch in Search/Database/Pgsql.php. Full advisory details are available at https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-5hx6-c293-588h. If immediate patching is not possible, migrating to the PDO PostgreSQL backend eliminates the vulnerability entirely, though this requires configuration and regression testing. As an interim network-layer control, rate-limiting or WAF rules applied to the public search endpoint can reduce the frequency and impact of wildcard-flooding attempts, at the cost of potentially throttling legitimate high-volume search traffic. Disabling the public FAQ search feature entirely is the most aggressive but fully effective workaround for operators who can accept that functional trade-off.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
phpMyFAQ is an open-source PHP FAQ management system whose PostgreSQL search backend (Search/Database/Pgsql.php) implements LIKE query escaping through an escapeLikeWildcards() function. The root cause is classified as CWE-88 (Argument Injection or Modification): the declared LIKE ESCAPE character in the SQL clause is '=' while the function actually prepends '|' to % and _ characters in user input. Because PostgreSQL uses '=' as the recognized escape character, the '|'-prefixed wildcards are never treated as escaped, leaving % and _ fully functional as SQL LIKE wildcards. This forces the PostgreSQL query planner to abandon index-optimized lookups in favor of expensive sequential full-table scans on every search request. The CPE cpe:2.3:a:thorsten:phpmyfaq:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covers all releases prior to 4.1.7. The PDO PostgreSQL driver is explicitly unaffected because it employs a different parameterization mechanism, and quote escaping remains correct throughout, ruling out SQL injection or data access.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Network-accessible public search form requires no privileges or interaction; availability impact is Low as DoS is query-rate-dependent and confined to the vulnerable system.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
phpMyFAQ before 4.1.7, when configured to use PostgreSQL via the native pgsql PHP extension, declares an incorrect LIKE ESCAPE character ('=') in the Search/Database/Pgsql.php backend while escapeLikeWildcards() escapes user input with the '|' prefix. As a result, wildcard escaping is a no-op and user-supplied % and _ characters remain active LIKE wildcards. An unauthenticated attacker can submit such characters in the public FAQ search form to force maximally broad pattern matches and expensive sequential scans, resulting in a denial of service. The PDO PostgreSQL backend is not affected, and quotes remain escaped so this does not enable quote-breaking SQL injection or data exfiltration.
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
SQL injection exploits the way applications construct database queries by mixing user input directly into SQL statements.
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
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-2026-62453
GHSA-jj45-w38g-gfrj
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB