CVE-2026-56737: phpMyFAQ's two-factor authentication login bypasses the password factor
The public two-factor verification endpoint POST /check logs a user in based solely on a valid
6-digit TOTP token and a chosen user-id. It does not require — and is not bound to — a prior
successful password authentication. For any account that has 2FA enabled, an unauthenticated attacker
can authenticate without knowing the password, reducing the account to a single factor (a 6-digit
code) that is itself brute-forceable because this endpoint has no lockout (see Finding #2). This is an
authentication bypass of the primary credential for all 2FA-protected accounts, including administrators.
References
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-8gpw-xvpf-hvx5
- github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/commit/410208b90f1d01534812ac5203d3e8d9c7bd591f
- github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/commit/5097dff341fb01e93e8561e7261b3ae657df715a
- github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/commit/6a69f6e2142fde722165c65b7e0a49f3176e87be
- github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/releases/tag/4.1.6
- github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-8gpw-xvpf-hvx5
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-56737
Code Behaviors & Features
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