---
id: CVE-2026-56738
title: phpMyFAQ is an open source FAQ web application
summary: >-
  phpMyFAQ is an open source FAQ web application. The `StopWords::add()` method
  inversions prior to 4.1.6 builds a SQL `INSERT` statement using `sprintf()`
  and inserts the user-supplied stop word value directly into the query string
  withou…
severity: high
cvss: 8.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-89
vendor: thorsten
product: phpMyFAQ
affected:
  - phpMyFAQ < 4.1.6
published: '2026-09-24'
updated: '2026-09-24'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-24T17:17:05.003'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-56738'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/commit/d56ef5d75c3c007de095bc4c13b470c7ac783f0f
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-rw77-vq4g-x3hp
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-56738'
  - url: 'https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/releases/tag/4.1.6'
  - url: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rw77-vq4g-x3hp'
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - ghsa
  - composer
cvssSource: cna
ingestedAt: '2026-09-24T16:47:15.851Z'
aliases:
  - GHSA-rw77-vq4g-x3hp
ecosystem: composer
patched:
  - phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq 4.1.6
  - thorsten/phpmyfaq 4.1.6
epss: 0.00261
epssPercentile: 0.1593
---

## Overview

phpMyFAQ is an open source FAQ web application. The `StopWords::add()` method inversions prior to 4.1.6 builds a SQL `INSERT` statement using `sprintf()` and inserts the user-supplied stop word value directly into the query string without calling the application's database escaping function on it. A sibling method, `StopWords::update()`, which modifies an existing stop word, correctly escapes the same kind of input. The omission is isolated to the `add()` (insert) code path. An authenticated administrator who can reach the stop-word management feature can submit a crafted value as the "word" parameter that breaks out of the SQL string literal and injects arbitrary SQL, including statements to drop tables, exfiltrate data, or modify other rows in the database. Version 4.1.6 fixes the issue.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

## Package advisory (CVE-2026-56738)

Affected packages:

- `phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq <= 4.1.5`
- `thorsten/phpmyfaq <= 4.1.5`

Patched in:

- `phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq 4.1.6`
- `thorsten/phpmyfaq 4.1.6`

Source: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rw77-vq4g-x3hp