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phpMyAdmin 5.0.0 Vulnerable to Critical SQL Injection (CVE-2020-26934)

2 min readSource: Exploit Database

Security researchers disclose a severe SQL injection flaw in phpMyAdmin 5.0.0, enabling database compromise. Patch immediately to mitigate risks.

phpMyAdmin 5.0.0 SQL Injection Vulnerability Disclosed

Security researchers have identified a critical SQL injection vulnerability in phpMyAdmin 5.0.0, a widely used open-source database management tool for MySQL and MariaDB. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2020-26934, could allow attackers to execute arbitrary SQL queries, leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion.

Technical Details

The vulnerability resides in phpMyAdmin’s handling of user-supplied input, specifically in versions 5.0.0 and potentially earlier. Exploit code (Exploit-DB ID: 52451) demonstrates how attackers can manipulate SQL queries by injecting malicious payloads, bypassing authentication mechanisms or extracting sensitive database information.

Key technical aspects:

  • Affected Software: phpMyAdmin 5.0.0
  • Vulnerability Type: SQL Injection (SQLi)
  • CVE ID: CVE-2020-26934
  • Exploit Availability: Public (Exploit-DB)
  • Attack Vector: Remote (via crafted HTTP requests)

Impact Analysis

Successful exploitation of this flaw could result in:

  • Full database compromise, including theft of sensitive data (e.g., credentials, PII).
  • Unauthorized administrative access to phpMyAdmin instances.
  • Data manipulation or deletion, disrupting critical operations.
  • Secondary attacks, such as privilege escalation or lateral movement within networks.

Given phpMyAdmin’s widespread use in web hosting and development environments, the risk is amplified for organizations running outdated versions.

Recommendations

Security teams and administrators should take immediate action:

  1. Upgrade Immediately: Apply the latest phpMyAdmin patch (version 5.0.1 or later) to mitigate the vulnerability.
  2. Isolate Vulnerable Instances: Restrict access to phpMyAdmin interfaces until updates are applied.
  3. Monitor for Exploitation: Review logs for suspicious SQL queries or unauthorized access attempts.
  4. Implement WAF Rules: Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to block SQL injection attempts targeting phpMyAdmin.
  5. Audit Database Permissions: Ensure least-privilege access controls are enforced to limit potential damage.

For further details, refer to the Exploit-DB entry (ID: 52451).

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