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Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2026-57996

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click 5 weeks old

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
phpMyFAQ before 4.1.5 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the user/add API endpoint that allows non-SuperAdmin administrators to create SuperAdmin accounts. A delegated administrator with USER_ADD/EDIT/DELETE permissions can call POST /admin/api/user/add with isSuperAdmin: true and attacker-chosen credentials to create a SuperAdmin account, then authenticate as that account to achieve full instance takeover.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.5 has a broken access control vulnerability in the user/add API endpoint where the authorization check is missing or insufficient. A delegated administrator with USER_ADD/EDIT/DELETE permissions can craft a POST request to /admin/api/user/add with isSuperAdmin: true to create a SuperAdmin account, bypassing the intended permission model that restricts such elevation.

MitigationUpgrade to phpMyFAQ 4.1.5 or later. As a workaround, restrict USER_ADD/EDIT/DELETE permissions to only SuperAdmin accounts until the patch can be applied.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed phpMyFAQ version
    Locate the version file or check the admin dashboard for the phpMyFAQ version number (commonly found in a version.php file, README, or footer of the admin panel)
    Affected if The installed version is before 4.1.5 (any 4.x version below 4.1.5, or any version below 4.1.5)
  2. Enumerate user accounts with elevated permissions
    Query the user database table or use the admin interface to list all user accounts and their permission levels, specifically looking for users with USER_ADD, USER_EDIT, or USER_DELETE permissions
    Affected if There are delegated (non-SuperAdmin) users with USER_ADD, USER_EDIT, or USER_DELETE permissions enabled
  3. Verify if the user/add API endpoint is accessible to delegated admins
    Review the access control configuration or test whether a user with only USER_ADD/EDIT/DELETE permissions (but not SuperAdmin status) can access the POST /admin/api/user/add endpoint
    Affected if The API endpoint accepts requests from non-SuperAdmin users without additional authorization checks
  4. Audit SuperAdmin account creation logs
    Review admin activity logs, audit trails, or user creation timestamps to identify any SuperAdmin accounts created by users who did not originally have SuperAdmin privileges
    Affected if Any SuperAdmin account was created by a delegated administrator account

A user is affected if they run phpMyFAQ versions before 4.1.5 and have delegated administrator accounts with USER_ADD/EDIT/DELETE permissions enabled in their environment.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to phpMyFAQ 4.1.5 or later. As a workaround, restrict USER_ADD/EDIT/DELETE permissions to only SuperAdmin accounts until the patch can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

phpMyFAQ 4.1.5 or later

  1. Backup your current phpMyFAQ installation and database before upgrading
  2. Download phpMyFAQ version 4.1.5 or later from the official source (github.com/phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq)
  3. Follow the official upgrade instructions to replace the existing installation files
  4. After upgrading, verify that the /admin/api/user/add endpoint now properly rejects the isSuperAdmin parameter for non-SuperAdmin users
  5. Confirm that only actual SuperAdmin accounts can create other SuperAdmin accounts
  6. Test that administrators with USER_ADD/EDIT/DELETE permissions cannot escalate their privileges

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-57996 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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