Critical CSRF Vulnerability Discovered in phpMyFAQ 2.9.8: CVE Pending

phpMyFAQ 2.9.8 Affected by Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) Vulnerability

Security researchers have identified a critical cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in phpMyFAQ 2.9.8, a widely used open-source FAQ management system. The flaw, disclosed via Exploit-DB, allows attackers to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users by tricking them into submitting malicious requests.

Technical Details

The CSRF vulnerability (CVE pending) stems from insufficient validation of HTTP requests in phpMyFAQ 2.9.8. Attackers can craft malicious links or forms that, when accessed by a logged-in user, perform unintended actions such as:

• Modifying FAQ entries
• Altering user permissions
• Deleting content or configurations

The exploit leverages the lack of anti-CSRF tokens or referer checks, enabling attackers to bypass security controls if a victim interacts with a compromised or malicious site.

Impact Analysis

Organizations running phpMyFAQ 2.9.8 are at risk of:

• Unauthorized data manipulation: Attackers could modify or delete FAQ content, disrupting knowledge bases.
• Privilege escalation: Malicious requests may alter user roles, granting elevated access to threat actors.
• Reputation damage: Compromised FAQ systems could serve misleading or malicious content to end-users.

Recommendations

Security teams should take the following steps to mitigate risk:

1. Upgrade Immediately: Apply the latest phpMyFAQ patch or update to a secure version once available.
2. Implement Anti-CSRF Tokens: Manually add CSRF protection to forms and sensitive actions if no patch exists.
3. User Awareness: Train users to recognize phishing attempts and avoid clicking suspicious links.
4. Monitor for Exploits: Deploy web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block CSRF attack patterns.

For further details, refer to the original exploit disclosure.