Denial of Service Vulnerability in phpMyAdmin

phpmyadmin Updated 02 Oct 2025

Summary

11/12/2016
N/A
Yes i
Medium
5.9

CVE-2016-9860: An issue was discovered in phpMyAdmin. Affects phpmyadmin across 64 version ranges.

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Fixed in 4.4.15.9-r0. How to fix ↓

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Background

phpMyAdmin is a popular open-source tool for managing MySQL databases. It provides a web-based interface for users to perform various database management tasks. The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-9860 affects versions 4.6.x (prior to 4.6.5), 4.4.x (prior to 4.4.15.9), and 4.0.x (prior to 4.0.10.18) of phpMyAdmin. This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated user to execute a denial of service attack when phpMyAdmin is running with the configuration option $cfg['AllowArbitraryServer'] set to true.

Vulnerability Detail

The vulnerability arises due to a lack of proper access control checks. When an attacker sends specially crafted requests to a vulnerable phpMyAdmin instance, it can cause the server to consume excessive resources, leading to a denial of service condition. This can result in the unavailability of the phpMyAdmin interface and potentially impact other services running on the same server. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 5.9, indicating a moderate severity level.

How To Fix

Minimum fixed version

4.4.15.9-r0

This is the first release that contains the fix.

sudo apk add --upgrade phpmyadmin

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Workaround

If upgrading to the latest version is not immediately feasible, a temporary workaround is to set the $cfg['AllowArbitraryServer'] configuration option to false. This can be done by modifying the phpMyAdmin configuration file. However, it is strongly recommended to apply the official patches or upgrade to the latest version as soon as possible.

Conclusion

The identified vulnerability in phpMyAdmin allows an unauthenticated attacker to execute a denial of service attack. To mitigate this risk, it is crucial to upgrade to the latest version of phpMyAdmin or apply the official patches. If immediate upgrade is not possible, setting the $cfg['AllowArbitraryServer'] configuration option to false can serve as a temporary workaround. For further assistance and support in vulnerability remediation, please contact DevNack.com.

See every vulnerability recorded for phpmyadmin →

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FAQ

phpMyAdmin is an open-source tool that provides a web-based interface for managing MySQL databases. It allows users to perform various database management tasks such as creating, modifying, and deleting databases, tables, and records.

This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to execute a denial of service attack on a phpMyAdmin instance. It can result in the unavailability of the phpMyAdmin interface and potentially impact other services running on the same server.

You can use the Vulert Playground (https://vulert.com/scanner) to check if your phpMyAdmin installation is affected by this vulnerability. It analyzes your package-lock.json file and provides real-time alerts for open-source vulnerabilities.

Yes, the fix for this vulnerability is to upgrade to the latest version of phpMyAdmin. Make sure to apply the official patches or update to version 4.6.5 (or later) for 4.6.x versions, version 4.4.15.9 (or later) for 4.4.x versions, and version 4.0.10.18 (or later) for 4.0.x versions.

A temporary workaround is to set the $cfg['AllowArbitraryServer'] configuration option to false. However, it is strongly recommended to apply the official patches or upgrade to the latest version as soon as possible.

Related vulnerabilities

Recent vulnerabilities recorded for phpmyadmin.

How To Fix

Minimum fixed version

4.4.15.9-r0

This is the first release that contains the fix.

sudo apk add --upgrade phpmyadmin

Tip — Not sure which version your app runs? Vulert can match this fix to it. Scan free →

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