# CVE-2026-56396: phpMyFAQ privilege escalation in editUser and updateUserRights

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-56396-phpmyfaq-privilege-escalation-in-edituser-and-updateuserrights  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-06-21. Updated: 2026-06-21  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-56396 · Severity: high · CVSS 8.8 · Published 2026-06-21

phpMyFAQ, an open-source FAQ software, contains a security flaw that allows staff members with limited administrative access to grant themselves full "SuperAdmin" control. By bypassing intended restrictions in the user management interface, a lower-level administrator can elevate their own permissions or modify other accounts. This could lead to a complete takeover of the FAQ system, allowing unauthorized users to access sensitive data, modify content, or disrupt services.

Technologies: [phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq (Packagist)](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/phpmyfaq-phpmyfaq), [thorsten/phpmyfaq (Packagist)](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/thorsten-phpmyfaq). Vendors: [Packagist](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/packagist).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-56396 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-56396 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-56396?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.8, published 21 June 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq (Packagist) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=4.1.4; thorsten/phpmyfaq (Packagist) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=4.1.4.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-56396?** Yes. phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq (Packagist): upgrade to 4.1.4 or later; thorsten/phpmyfaq (Packagist): upgrade to 4.1.4 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-56396 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-56396?** Check whether you run phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq (Packagist) or thorsten/phpmyfaq (Packagist) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq (Packagist): upgrade to 4.1.4 or later

  ```sh
  composer require phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq:^4.1.4
  ```

- thorsten/phpmyfaq (Packagist): upgrade to 4.1.4 or later

  ```sh
  composer require thorsten/phpmyfaq:^4.1.4
  ```


## Technical details

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in phpMyFAQ versions prior to 4.1.4 due to missing authorization checks in the UserController::editUser() and UserController::updateUserRights() API endpoints. While a previous patch (GHSA-xvp4-phqj-cjr3) secured password resets, these sibling endpoints remained unguarded, requiring only the basic 'edit_user' permission rather than 'SuperAdmin' status. An authenticated attacker with limited administrative rights can send crafted requests to these endpoints to set the 'is_superadmin' flag on their own account or grant themselves arbitrary system rights. This is a failure to enforce the invariant that non-SuperAdmins should not be able to modify SuperAdmin attributes or promote themselves. The issue is resolved in version 4.1.4.

## Affected products

- phpMyFAQ phpMyFAQ < 4.1.4

## Identifiers

- CVE-2026-56396
- GHSA-985r-q3qp-299h

## Timeline

- 2026-05-25: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-985r-q3qp-299h published
- 2026-06-21: disclosed: NVD publication and VulnCheck advisory release
- 2026-06-21: patched: Vulnerability addressed in version 4.1.4

## References

- [https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-985r-q3qp-299h](https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-985r-q3qp-299h)
- [https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/phpmyfaq-privilege-escalation-via-missing-authorization-in-edituser-and-updateuserrights](https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/phpmyfaq-privilege-escalation-via-missing-authorization-in-edituser-and-updateuserrights)

## Related threats

- [phpMyFAQ SQL injection in StopWords::add()](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-56738-phpmyfaq-sql-injection-in-stopwords-add)
- [phpMyFAQ SQL LIKE wildcard injection in chat user search](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-47132-phpmyfaq-sql-like-wildcard-injection-in-chat-user-search)
- [phpMyFAQ two-factor authentication password bypass](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-56737-phpmyfaq-two-factor-authentication-password-bypass)
- [phpMyFAQ stored XSS in admin FAQ editor via HTML entity bypass](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-56736-phpmyfaq-stored-xss-in-admin-faq-editor-via-html-entity-bypass)
- [phpMyFAQ information disclosure of inactive FAQ content in public API](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-57994-phpmyfaq-information-disclosure-of-inactive-faq-content-in-public)