phpMyFAQ has SQL Injection in CurrentUser::setTokenData through unescaped OAuth token fieldsGHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7
HIGHGHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) SQL Injection vulnerability in thorsten/phpmyfaq. A fix is available for thorsten/phpmyfaq — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7.
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
thorsten/phpmyfaq🐘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
CurrentUser::setTokenData() in phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/User/CurrentUser.php at lines 515-534 builds a SQL UPDATE statement with sprintf and interpolates OAuth token fields (refresh_token, access_token, code_verifier, and json_encode($token['jwt'])) without calling $db->escape(). Sibling methods setAuthSource() and setRememberMe() in the same file do call $db->escape() on user-controlled values, so the omission is local to this method. An attacker (Bob) whose Azure AD display name contains a single quote (for example O'Brien, or a deliberate SQL payload) breaks out of the string literal and injects arbitrary SQL against the phpMyFAQ database.
Details
Vulnerable code (phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/User/CurrentUser.php, lines 513-534):
public function setTokenData(#[\SensitiveParameter] array $token): bool
{
$update = sprintf(
"
UPDATE
%sfaquser
SET
refresh_token = '%s',
access_token = '%s',
code_verifier = '%s',
jwt = '%s'
WHERE
user_id = %d",
Database::getTablePrefix(),
$token['refresh_token'],
$token['access_token'],
$token['code_verifier'],
json_encode($token['jwt'], JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR),
$this->getUserId(),
);
return (bool) $this->configuration->getDb()->query($update);
}
json_encode() does NOT escape single quotes. A JWT claim such as {"preferred_username": "O'Malley"} produces {"preferred_username":"O'Malley"} after json_encode, which terminates the SQL string literal at the apostrophe.
Correct pattern in the same file (setAuthSource, line 458-461):
$update = sprintf(
"UPDATE %sfaquser SET auth_source = '%s' WHERE user_id = %d",
Database::getTablePrefix(),
$this->configuration->getDb()->escape($authSource),
$this->getUserId(),
);
setRememberMe() (line 471-478) follows the same safe pattern with $db->escape().
Reachability: The phpMyFAQ Azure AD (Entra ID) OAuth flow calls setTokenData() after token exchange. The token response includes an id_token whose payload originates from the identity provider. An attacker registers a Microsoft account with a display name or custom claim containing SQL metacharacters. When that user logs into a phpMyFAQ instance with Azure AD auth enabled, the malicious claim flows into the UPDATE without sanitization.
Proof of Concept
Prerequisites: phpMyFAQ instance with Azure AD / Entra ID authentication enabled.
-
Bob registers an Azure AD account with display name
x]","email":"x',(SELECT SLEEP(5)))-- -. -
Bob initiates the OAuth login flow on the target phpMyFAQ.
-
After authorization, the token endpoint returns a JWT with the crafted claim.
-
phpMyFAQ calls
setTokenData()with the unsanitized token array. The resulting SQL becomes:
UPDATE faquser
SET
refresh_token = '<valid>',
access_token = '<valid>',
code_verifier = '<valid>',
jwt = '{"preferred_username":"x',(SELECT SLEEP(5)))-- -"}'
WHERE
user_id = 42
The single quote after x closes the jwt string literal. Everything after it executes as attacker-controlled SQL.
- To confirm time-based blind injection locally (requires modifying the OAuth token response in a proxy):
import requests
# Simulates what happens when the crafted JWT claim reaches the DB
# In production, this happens automatically through the OAuth flow
payload = "x'||(SELECT SLEEP(5))||'"
# The interpolated query will pause for 5 seconds, confirming injection
print(f"Injected jwt value: {payload}")
print("If the login takes 5+ seconds longer than normal, injection succeeded.")
Impact
An attacker who can authenticate via Azure AD with a crafted claim achieves arbitrary SQL execution on the phpMyFAQ database. This permits reading all FAQ data (including restricted entries), modifying or deleting content, and extracting password hashes and session tokens of all users including administrators.
CWE: CWE-89 (SQL Injection)
Recommended Fix
Escape all interpolated values using $this->configuration->getDb()->escape(), matching the pattern used by setAuthSource() and setRememberMe() in the same file:
public function setTokenData(#[\SensitiveParameter] array $token): bool
{
$db = $this->configuration->getDb();
$update = sprintf(
"
UPDATE
%sfaquser
SET
refresh_token = '%s',
access_token = '%s',
code_verifier = '%s',
jwt = '%s'
WHERE
user_id = %d",
Database::getTablePrefix(),
$db->escape($token['refresh_token']),
$db->escape($token['access_token']),
$db->escape($token['code_verifier']),
$db->escape(json_encode($token['jwt'], JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR)),
$this->getUserId(),
);
return (bool) $db->query($update);
}
Found by aisafe.io
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | thorsten/phpmyfaq | all versions | 4.1.2composer require thorsten/phpmyfaq:^4.1.2 |
| 🐘Packagist | phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq | all versions | 4.1.2composer require phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq:^4.1.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for thorsten/phpmyfaq, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update thorsten/phpmyfaq to 4.1.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7 in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.