Is CVE-2026-57996 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-57996 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-57996?

High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.8, published 15 July 2026.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-57996?

No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

How is CVE-2026-57996 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-57996?

Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. 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.

CVE-2026-57996: phpMyFAQ privilege escalation in user/add API endpoint

CVE-2026-57996 · Severity: high · CVSS 8.8 · Published 2026-07-15

phpMyFAQ is an open-source knowledge base system. A security flaw allows lower-level administrators, who should only have limited user management rights, to create new accounts with full "SuperAdmin" privileges. An attacker with limited administrative access could use this to take complete control of the entire system, including all data, configurations, and backups.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-57996 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-57996 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-57996?: High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.8, published 15 July 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: phpMyFAQ phpMyFAQ < 4.1.5.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-57996?: No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
How is CVE-2026-57996 attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-57996?: Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. 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.

Technical details

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the `user/add` API endpoint of phpMyFAQ due to an improper authorization check. While other user-management endpoints (like `editUser`) were previously hardened to ensure only SuperAdmins can grant SuperAdmin status, the `addUser` method in `UserController.php` lacks this guard. An attacker with delegated `USER_ADD/EDIT/DELETE` permissions can send a POST request to `/admin/api/user/add` with the `isSuperAdmin` parameter set to true. This allows the creation of a new account with full administrative privileges and attacker-controlled credentials, leading to a complete instance takeover. The issue is fixed in version 4.1.5.

Affected products

phpMyFAQ phpMyFAQ < 4.1.5

Timeline

2026-06-14: advisory: Vendor advisory published on GitHub
2026-07-15: disclosed: NVD publication date

References

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