highCVSS 8.8Vulnerability

GHSA-pg62-f8g4-4wqh

## Overview When phpMyFAQ hardened its admin permission-assignment endpoints against privilege escalation, it added a "a non-SuperAdmin may only assign rights they themselves hold" constraint to the user-rights endpoint (`UserController::updateUserRights`). **The equivalent group-rights endpoint, `GroupController::updatePermissions`, did not receive that constraint.** A delegated administrator holding only the `GROUP_EDIT` permission can therefore grant any group an arbitrary set of rights — including rights the administrator does not possess — and, by being (or becoming) a member of that group, inherit those rights, escalating to higher privileges up to full administrative control. ## Impact phpMyFAQ supports delegated administration: the `GROUP_EDIT` right can be granted to a non-SuperAdmin so they can manage groups. Such an administrator can escalate: 1. They call `POST /admin/group/update/permissions` with `group_id` set to a group they belong to (or can manage membership of) and `group_rights[]` containing high-value rights they do **not** themselves hold (e.g. user administration, or any right gating sensitive actions). 2. The endpoint grants every requested right to the group with no check that the caller holds them. 3. Members of that group — including the attacker — inherit the granted rights, escalating the attacker's effective privileges. This is the group-side mirror of exactly what the maintainers blocked on the user-rights side, where the code comment names the threat explicitly ("prevents an administrator with the delegable USER_EDIT right from granting privileges they do not possess (privilege escalation)"). The group path remains open. `PR:L` (the attacker needs the delegable `GROUP_EDIT` right, below SuperAdmin), `S:U` (escalation within phpMyFAQ's single authorization authority), `C:H/I:H/A:H` (inherited rights can reach full administrative read/write/availability control). The one added step versus the user-rights path — the attacker must b

Properties

ghsa_id
GHSA-pg62-f8g4-4wqh
severity
high
summary
phpMyFAQ privilege escalation: GroupController::updatePermissions lets a GROUP_EDIT admin grant rights they do not hold
cvss_score
8.8
cve_id
GHSA-pg62-f8g4-4wqh
cvss_vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
is_ghsa_only
true
ghsa_published
2026-08-25T17:32:07Z
source_url
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-pg62-f8g4-4wqh
ghsa_updated
2026-08-25T17:32:08Z

Related Entities (6)

VULNERABLE_TO (2)

[Software]composer/phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq
[Software]composer/thorsten/phpmyfaq

AFFECTS (2)

[Software]composer/phpmyfaq/phpmyfaq
[Software]composer/thorsten/phpmyfaq

HAS_WEAKNESS (1)

[Weakness]Improper Privilege Management

REPORTED_BY (1)

[Source]GitHub Advisory Database

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GHSA-pg62-f8g4-4wqh (CVSS 8.8) — Ninja Signal Threat Intelligence | Ninja Signal