The phpMyFaq 2.9.8 application suffers from a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-15808. This vulnerability allows an attacker to perform unauthorized state-changing actions on behalf of an authenticated administrator without their consent. The exploit works by crafting a malicious HTML page containing a form that submits a GET request to the phpMyFaq admin endpoint (/admin/index.php) with parameters that trigger the addition of a new FAQ instance. The parameters include malicious values for URL, instance name, comment, email, admin username, and password. When an authenticated admin visits the malicious page, the form auto-submits, causing the phpMyFaq backend to process the request as if it originated from the admin, thereby adding the attacker-controlled instance. This attack does not require user interaction beyond visiting the page, making it stealthy and effective. The vulnerability arises from the lack of CSRF protections such as anti-CSRF tokens or origin checks in the affected version. The exploit was tested on Windows 10 and is publicly available on Exploit-DB. While no patches or official fixes are linked in the provided data, the underlying issue is a failure to validate the legitimacy of state-changing requests, a common web application security flaw. The impact includes unauthorized configuration changes, potential privilege escalation, and compromise of the FAQ system integrity. Organizations running phpMyFaq 2.9.8 should be aware of this risk, especially if the admin interface is accessible over the internet or shared networks.

For European organizations, exploitation of this CSRF vulnerability could lead to unauthorized administrative changes within their phpMyFaq installations, potentially undermining the integrity and trustworthiness of their knowledge base systems. Attackers could inject malicious FAQ instances, potentially embedding harmful content or redirecting users to malicious sites, damaging organizational reputation and user trust. If phpMyFaq is integrated with other internal systems or used for critical knowledge dissemination, the impact could extend to misinformation or operational disruption. Since the attack requires an authenticated session, organizations with poor session management or exposed admin interfaces are at higher risk. The vulnerability could also serve as a foothold for further attacks if the attacker gains administrative privileges. Given the widespread use of phpMyFaq in various sectors including government, education, and enterprises across Europe, the threat could affect sensitive information dissemination and internal knowledge workflows. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for targeted attacks, especially in high-value environments.

1. Upgrade phpMyFaq to a version that includes official patches for CVE-2017-15808 or later versions where CSRF protections are implemented. 2. If upgrading is not immediately possible, implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the admin interface with CSRF-like patterns. 3. Restrict access to the phpMyFaq admin panel by IP whitelisting or VPN-only access to reduce exposure. 4. Implement strict session management policies, including short session timeouts and re-authentication for sensitive actions. 5. Add CSRF tokens to all state-changing requests in phpMyFaq’s source code if feasible, ensuring that requests without valid tokens are rejected. 6. Educate administrators to avoid visiting untrusted websites while logged into phpMyFaq admin interfaces. 7. Monitor logs for unusual admin actions or additions of new FAQ instances that could indicate exploitation attempts. 8. Conduct regular security audits and penetration tests focusing on web application vulnerabilities including CSRF. 9. Consider isolating phpMyFaq installations in segmented network zones to limit lateral movement if compromised.