CVE-2024-29196 is a low-severity (CVSS 3.8) Path Traversal vulnerability in phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq — see the affected versions and patch details below.
phpMyFAQ Path Traversal in Attachments
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-29196.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
phpmyfaq/phpmyfaqReal-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
Summary
There is a Path Traversal vulnerability in Attachments that allows attackers with admin rights to upload malicious files to other locations of the web root.
PoC
-
In settings, the attachment location is vulnerable to path traversal and can be set to e.g ..\hacked
-
When the above is set, attachments files are now uploaded to e.g C:\Apps\XAMPP\htdocs\hacked instead of C:\Apps\XAMPP\htdocs\phpmyfaq\attachments
-
Verify this by uploading an attachment and see that the "hacked" directory is now created in the web root folder with the attachment file inside.
Impact
Attackers can potentially upload malicious files outside the specified directory.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq | ≥ 3.2.5&&< 3.2.6 | 3.2.6composer require phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq:^3.2.6 |
Affected Products
phpmyfaqphpmyfaqResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq to 3.2.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-29196 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-29196 in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.