# CVE-2026-85589: phpMyFAQ before 4.2.0-alpha.2 Missing Authorization via Dashboard API

> Authenticated users can access admin dashboard APIs to read site-wide search statistics and content-health counters without proper permission checks.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 4 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 8 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-39j8-x5gv-w8w5, GHSA-gpwm-82cg-4wfw

## What is CVE-2026-85589?

CVE-2026-85589 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in thorsten phpMyFAQ, published on 4 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

phpMyFAQ before 4.2.0-alpha.2 contains a missing authorization vulnerability in the admin dashboard API endpoints searches and content-health that enforce only authentication without permission checks. Any authenticated user can access these endpoints to read site-wide search statistics and content-health counters regardless of their privilege level.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-85589?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-85589?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-85589 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-85589 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-85589 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-85589 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-85589 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in thorsten phpMyFAQ, published on 4 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-85589 exists.

Affected product: thorsten phpMyFAQ. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85589/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85589/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-85589
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-85589
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-85589

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85589/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.