How severe is CVE-2020-26935?

CVE-2020-26935 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-26935?

CVE-2020-26935 affects the following packages: phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin (Packagist), phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2020-26935?

Update phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin to 4.9.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-26935 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-26935 in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-26935 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Until you can upgrade, make sure every query built from user input uses parameterised statements or a prepared-statement API rather than string concatenation, and reduce the database account's privileges so an injected query cannot read or alter data beyond what the feature needs.

Is CVE-2020-26935 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2020-26935, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-26935?

CVE-2020-26935 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 63.7%, placing it in the 99th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-26935?

CVE-2020-26935 is classified as SQL Injection (CWE-89). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2020-26935?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2020-26935, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2020-26935 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-26935 was published on October 10, 2020 and was last updated on October 24, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐘

🐘 Packagist

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

CVE-2020-26935 — phpmyadmin

CRITICAL

CVE-2020-26935 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) SQL Injection vulnerability in phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin — see the affected versions and patch details below.

phpMyAdmin SQL injection vulnerability

Also known asBIT-phpmyadmin-2020-26935GHSA-7ff4-cv53-4cjq

Published

Oct 10, 2020

Updated

Oct 24, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 3, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

63.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs99th percentile — riskier than 99% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected

🐘phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin🐘phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

An issue was discovered in SearchController in phpMyAdmin before 4.9.6 and 5.x before 5.0.3. A SQL injection vulnerability was discovered in how phpMyAdmin processes SQL statements in the search feature. An attacker could use this flaw to inject malicious SQL in to a query.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin`	≥ 4.9.0&&< 4.9.6	4.9.6`composer require phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin:^4.9.6`
🐘Packagist	`phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin`	≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.0.3	5.0.3`composer require phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin:^5.0.3`

Affected Products

5 products · 11 configurations

debian linuxdebian

1 version

9.0

fedorafedoraproject

3 versions

313233

Application

backports sleopensuse

1 version

15.0

leapopensuse

2 versions

15.115.2

Application

phpmyadminphpmyadmin

≥ 5.0.0 && < 5.0.3

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

An issue was discovered in SearchController in phpMyAdmin before 4.9.6 a…

advisory.checkmarx.netNVDJan 2023

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin to 4.9.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-26935 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Until you can upgrade, make sure every query built from user input uses parameterised statements or a prepared-statement API rather than string concatenation, and reduce the database account's privileges so an injected query cannot read or alter data beyond what the feature needs.

How to detect CVE-2020-26935

A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:

nuclei -id cve-2020-26935 -u https://target

Template: phpMyAdmin < 5.0.3 - SQL Injection
Severity: critical
Impact: Attackers can execute arbitrary SQL commands, potentially leading to data theft, modification, or deletion.
Remediation: Update to phpMyAdmin 4.9.6 or 5.0.3, or latest version.

Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (0x_Akoko), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-26935 in your dependencies?

Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.

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