Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2026-35672 lets an unauthenticated person modify content in phpMyFAQ when API v4.0 uses the default empty API client token. For businesses, the main risk is unauthorized FAQ, category, or question content changes, including malicious or misleading content published through a trusted knowledge base.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority for any public or customer-facing phpMyFAQ site. Unauthorized content changes can damage trust, spread false information, or create downstream security risk. Prioritize upgrade and configuration review ahead of routine maintenance.
Technical view
phpMyFAQ before 4.1.3 has an authentication bypass in API v4.0 tied to an empty default api.apiClientToken. Token validation can be bypassed with an empty token value, allowing unauthenticated API writes. CVSS 4.0 is 8.7 with network access, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, and high integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposed phpMyFAQ deployments before 4.1.3 are most relevant, especially where API v4.0 is reachable and api.apiClientToken remains empty or default. Internet-facing knowledge bases have higher business exposure because attackers may alter public content without a valid account.
Exploitation context
The sources do not report active exploitation, and this CVE is not listed as KEV in the provided bundle. The vulnerability is remotely reachable and unauthenticated, but described impact is content integrity compromise rather than data theft or system takeover.
Researcher notes
This is CWE-1188, insecure default initialization. The provided CVSS emphasizes integrity impact only: VC:N, VI:H, VA:N, SC:N, SI:N, SA:N. Evidence supports unauthenticated API write access when the client token is empty. No source in the bundle claims exploitation in the wild.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade phpMyFAQ to 4.1.3 or later, per affected-version guidance.
- Review vendor advisory for api.apiClientToken configuration guidance.
- Ensure API client tokens are not empty or left at insecure defaults.
- Restrict API exposure to trusted networks where business requirements allow.
- Monitor phpMyFAQ content changes until remediation is confirmed.
Validation and detection
- Inventory phpMyFAQ instances and confirm installed versions.
- Check whether API v4.0 is enabled or externally reachable.
- Review api.apiClientToken for empty or default configuration.
- Audit recent FAQ, category, and question changes for unauthorized edits.
- Confirm remediation by matching version and configuration against vendor guidance.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-1188: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-35672 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.7 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
2 official scoresWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——VulnCheckCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N3.93.6VulnCheckVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
8.7HighVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- GHSA Advisory GHSA-gp95-j463-vv28CVE reference, VulnCheck · vendor-advisory
- VulnCheck Advisory: phpMyFAQ - Authentication Bypass via Empty API TokenCVE reference, VulnCheck · third-party-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default
Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.