CVE Intelligence
Medium Privilege escalation

CVE-2026-111893 — phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta Privilege Escalation via Group Category Restrictions API

phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in GroupController::saveCategoryRestrictions() that lets delegated administrators assign categories outside their own scope. Category-restricted administrators can POST to /admin/api/group/category-restrictions with out-of-scope or empty categoryIds to grant groups unrestricted category access.

Published Oct 17, 2026 · Updated Oct 18, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: VulnCheck

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • Technical severity (medium)+3
  • CISA SSVC: exploitation "poc"+5

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
—
No EPSS score.
Affects
Thorsten
Phpmyfaq
CVSS base
6.5
Medium · 3 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
Proof of concept
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Thorsten Phpmyfaq).
  2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (privilege escalation), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Thorsten Phpmyfaq ≥ 4.2.0-alpha and < 4.2.0-beta Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
8.5 CVSS 4.0 High — — disclosure@vulncheck.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
8.5 CVSS 4.0 High — — VulnCheck via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
6.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 1.2 5.2 disclosure@vulncheck.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
6.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — VulnCheck via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N (score shown at the top: disclosure@vulncheck.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 18, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Affected products added · thorsten/phpmyfaq
    Oct 17, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 17, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 6.5
    Oct 17, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Deferred
    Oct 17, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 17, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • CVE published
    Oct 17, 2026 · VulnCheck

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 17, 2026 – Oct 18, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 17, 2026 – Oct 17, 2026

References

4 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Thorsten
every CVE for this vendor
Privilege escalation
same class
CWE-269
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-111909 phpMyFAQ before 4.1.9 Missing Authorization Allows Superadmin Deletion via deleteUser API 1d
  • CVE-2026-111908 phpMyFAQ 4.0.0 before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta BOLA in FAQ Update via REST API 1d
  • CVE-2026-111910 phpMyFAQ before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta Authorization Bypass via attachment.php Downloads 1d
  • CVE-2026-111911 phpMyFAQ 4.0.0 before 4.1.9 Authentication Bypass via WebAuthn Credential Injection 1d
  • CVE-2026-111905 phpMyFAQ 3.2.0 before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta IDOR Leaks TOTP Secret via /admin/api/user/data 1d
  • CVE-2026-111904 phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta Information Disclosure via open-questions API 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No FIRST EPSS score.
  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-111893 is "phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta Privilege Escalation via Group Category Restrictions API", rated Medium. It affects Phpmyfaq (Thorsten); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 6.5 describes technical severity. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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