How severe is GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f?

GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f has a CVSS score of 5.4/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f?

GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f affects the following packages: thorsten/phpmyfaq (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f?

Update thorsten/phpmyfaq to 3.1.17 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f in my Packagist dependencies?

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.

How do I mitigate GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Is GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f, 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 GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f?

GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.5%, placing it in the 38th 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. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f?

GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). 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.

When was GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f was published on December 16, 2023 and was last updated on February 16, 2024. 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

MEDIUM severity

GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f — thorsten/phpmyfaq

MEDIUMFix: thorsten/phpmyfaq@1037a8f

GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in thorsten/phpmyfaq. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for thorsten/phpmyfaq — see the affected versions and patch details below.

phpMyFAQ Cross-site Scripting vulnerability

Also known asCVE-2023-6889

Published

Dec 16, 2023

Updated

Feb 16, 2024

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Sep 26, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs38th percentile — riskier than 38% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

How urgent is this, really

GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 379,842 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐘thorsten/phpmyfaq

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

Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyfaq prior to 3.1.17.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`thorsten/phpmyfaq`	all versions	3.1.17`composer require thorsten/phpmyfaq:^3.1.17`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

phpmyfaqphpmyfaq

< 3.1.17

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.

Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyf…

huntr.comNVDDec 2023

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
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 3.1.17 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyfaq prior to 3.1.17.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f in your dependencies?

Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

5.4/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Raw vector

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

CWE Classification

CWE-79Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

Timeline

Disclosed

Dec 16, 2023

First exploit

Dec 19, 2023

3 days after disclosure — rapid exploitation

Last updated

Feb 16, 2024

Identifiers

GHSA-w8xj-992g-842f

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov Webgithub.com Webhuntr.com Packagegithub.com

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is medium severity; 7 of 8 other CVEs affecting thorsten/phpmyfaq are rated as high or higher (top: high).

GHSA-88g4-74f3-63x9GHSA-mf8r-wm2w-f8c5GHSA-pg62-f8g4-4wqhCVE-2026-47132GHSA-985r-q3qp-299hCVE-2026-48488CVE-2026-49205CVE-2026-35676

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedFeb 16, 2024