CVE-2023-2550Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Administrator script execution via unescaped question email

Published May 5, 2023 · Updated Feb 12, 2025

Stored XSS in phpMyFAQ before 3.1.13 allows remote attackers to run script in an administrator's browser through a submitted question. The Open Questions view in admin/record.questions.php places a stored submitter email address into a mailto attribute without HTML entity encoding. The question-submission feature must be enabled and an administrator must open the queue; the script then acts with that administrator's browser access.

CVSS severity4.8
Medium
EPSS probability0.46%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Stored XSS in phpMyFAQ before 3.1.13 allows remote attackers to run script in an administrator's browser through a submitted question. The Open Questions view in admin/record.questions.php places a stored submitter email address into a mailto attribute without HTML entity encoding. The question-submission feature must be enabled and an administrator must open the queue; the script then acts with that administrator's browser access.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2550
Published
May 5, 2023
Updated
Feb 12, 2025
Vendor
Thorsten Rinne
Product
phpMyFAQ
Classifications
CWE-79, T1190
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 5, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 12, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <3.1.13

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Thorsten Rinne · phpMyFAQversion=unspecified <3.1.13

Published CVSS scores

4.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
8.2huntr.devCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo