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Atomicorp WAF Research Note: CVE-2026-76210

phpMyFAQ before v4.1.6 Local File Disclosure via PDF Export

CVE Details

Status: Attack Blocked by Atomicorp
Technical CPE data

This section lists vulnerable CPE matches retained from the NVD configurations. It supplements the readable affected-product information above.

  • cpe:2.3:a:phpmyfaq:phpmyfaq:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • Version end (exclusive): 4.1.6
    • NVD match criteria ID: 1C268BC8-7327-4429-9FE4-B187113F9AA9

Vulnerability Description

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.6 does not adequately sanitize HTML in FAQ answers before generating PDFs via TCPDF. An attacker with permission to create or edit FAQ content can embed an <img> tag whose src references a local file under the web root’s content/ directory (e.g., content/core/config/database.php). When the PDF is generated, phpMyFAQ attempts to read the referenced file; because it is not a valid image the resulting error is converted into an uncaught exception whose stack trace discloses part of the file’s contents to any user who triggers the PDF export. By default the disclosed portion is truncated (zend.exception_string_param_max_len), but a larger configured value can result in disclosure of entire files, including database credentials.

  1. Maintain the observed Atomicorp protections. Keep your Atomicorp commercial rules current and confirm that the selected observed rules (340007 , 344360 , 347009 , 390709 ) have not been locally disabled. Atomicorp commercial rules are enabled by default. If you use Atomic WAF, review the applicable policy and rule settings.

  2. Apply the vendor’s remediation. WAF protection is defense in depth and does not replace upgrading or following the affected vendor’s guidance.

    • Affected versions: thorsten phpMyFAQ versions earlier than 4.1.6.
    • Versions reported unaffected: thorsten phpMyFAQ version 4.1.6.
    • Recommended upgrade: Upgrade thorsten phpMyFAQ to 4.1.6 or later.
    • The CVE record does not include written upgrade or workaround instructions, but it does publish the following patch or mitigation reference:

  3. Validate after changes. Confirm rule updates are current, review WAF events for the affected application, and test application behavior after vendor upgrades, mitigations, or local policy changes.

Research Notes

Atomicorp WAF protections are designed around attack techniques and exploit behaviors, allowing existing protections to apply across multiple vulnerabilities without requiring a unique rule for every CVE.

Public Vulnerability References

Test or Research Source

  • Source: Atomicorp AI Research Framework
  • Tags: cve, derived, traversal, waf-probe

Research Note Context

This research note documents exploit-technique analysis associated with this vulnerability and references Atomicorp WAF protections observed during engineering review, testing, or validation activities.

Atomicorp security controls are generally designed to identify and mitigate attack techniques and exploit behaviors rather than individual CVE identifiers. As a result, protections developed for one vulnerability may also apply to related attack variants and future vulnerabilities using similar techniques.

Learn More

Atomicorp develops commercially supported security technologies for web applications, servers, endpoints, workloads, and legacy enterprise platforms.

Organizations interested in protecting systems against exploit techniques associated with vulnerabilities such as this one can learn more about:

  • Atomic ModSecurity Rules: commercially maintained WAF rules for ModSecurity deployments, including protections for web attacks, bots, scanners, malware, exploitation attempts, and emerging vulnerability classes.
  • Atomic WAF: an enterprise web application firewall with Atomicorp rules, centralized management, reporting, authentication controls, and operational tooling.
  • Atomic ModSecurity Integrator: a special licensing option for MSPs, MSSPs, OEMs, VARs, reverse proxy providers, and other integrators who want to incorporate Atomicorp ModSecurity rule technology into their own products or services.
  • Atomic OSSEC: an enterprise OSSEC-based intrusion detection, compliance, and security monitoring platform.
  • Atomic Protector: workload protection for Linux, web, cloud, data center, and hybrid environments.

For additional information, product evaluations, or technical discussions, visit https://www.atomicorp.com/ or https://modsecurity.io/ .