GHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7
HIGHGHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) vulnerability in thorsten/phpmyfaq. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
phpMyFAQ has SQL Injection in CurrentUser::setTokenData through unescaped OAuth token fields
Blast Radius
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 | 4.1.2 |
| 🐘Packagist | phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq | all versions | 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. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
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
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-pm8c-3qq3-72w7 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.