CVE-2026-45010: thorsten/phpmyfaq (Composer (PHP))

Should you act?

Critical and remotely reachable

No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

Not in CISA KEV, but CISA’s SSVC assessment records a public proof-of-concept, so attack code exists.
EPSS 0.6%, percentile 46: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 46% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
Only applies if your dependency tree includes thorsten/phpmyfaq (Composer (PHP)) <= 4.1.1, fixed in 4.1.2; phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq (Composer (PHP)) <= 4.1.1, fixed in 4.1.2. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.2 contains an improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts vulnerability in the /admin/check endpoint, which accepts arbitrary user-id parameters without session binding or rate limiting. Unauthenticated attackers can brute-force any user's six-digit TOTP code by submitting POST requests with sequential token values, bypassing two-factor authentication to gain full administrative access.

From the GitHub advisory

Summary

The /admin/check endpoint in AuthenticationController implements SkipsAuthenticationCheck, making it reachable without any prior authentication. An anonymous attacker (Bob) can POST arbitrary user-id and token values to brute-force any user's 6-digit TOTP code. No rate limiting exists. The 10^6 keyspace is exhaustible in minutes. Reachability confirmed against a default install: unauthenticated POST /admin/check with a user-id body field returns HTTP 302 to /admin/token?user-id= , echoing the attacker-supplied user id without any binding to a prior password-phase authentication.

Details

File: phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Administration/AuthenticationController.php, lines 35-36 and 201-228.

The controller class declaration:

Weakness type: CWE-307.

Product: thorsten/phpmyfaq (Composer (PHP)) · Assigned by: VulnCheck · Published: 2026-05-15

Affected and fixed versions

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable	First fixed
Composer (PHP)	`thorsten/phpmyfaq`	<= 4.1.1	4.1.2
Composer (PHP)	`phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq`	<= 4.1.1	4.1.2

Vendor	Product	Affected versions (per CVE record)
thorsten	phpmyfaq	< 4.1.2

Severity scores

Scored by	CVSS	Score	Vector
VulnCheck	3.1	9.1 Critical	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`
VulnCheck	4.0	9.3 Critical	`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`
GitHub	3.1	9.1	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`

Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
Attack complexity: low
Attack requirements: none
Privileges required: none (no login)
User interaction: none

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation poc, automatable yes, technical impact total.
FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.57% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 46.

Timeline

2026-05-06 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-9pq7-mfwh-xx2j published (critical)
2026-05-15 — CVE record published by VulnCheck
2026-05-28 — CVE record last updated

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.