CVE-2022-0813: phpMyAdmin Information Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2022-0813 Overview

CVE-2022-0813 is an Information Exposure vulnerability affecting phpMyAdmin versions 5.1.1 and earlier. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to retrieve potentially sensitive information by crafting invalid requests that target specific application parameters. This affects the lang parameter, the pma_parameter, and the cookie section of phpMyAdmin.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can remotely extract sensitive configuration and application data from vulnerable phpMyAdmin installations without requiring any user interaction.

Affected Products

• phpMyAdmin versions up to and including 5.1.1
• phpMyAdmin 4.x versions prior to 4.9.10

Discovery Timeline

• 2022-02-11 - phpMyAdmin releases security patches in versions 4.9.10 and 5.1.3
• 2022-03-10 - CVE-2022-0813 published to NVD
• 2024-11-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2022-0813

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability (CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) allows attackers to extract sensitive information from phpMyAdmin installations through malformed request handling. The application fails to properly validate and sanitize certain input parameters before processing, leading to information disclosure when error conditions are triggered.

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network without authentication and requires no user interaction. The primary security impact is confidentiality breach, as attackers can potentially access sensitive configuration data, session information, or internal application details that should not be exposed to unauthorized users.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper input validation within phpMyAdmin's request handling mechanism. When the application receives malformed or invalid values for the lang parameter, pma_parameter, or cookie data, it fails to properly sanitize error responses. This insufficient error handling allows internal application state and configuration details to leak to remote attackers through verbose error messages or unintended response data.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires no privileges or user interaction. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted HTTP requests to a vulnerable phpMyAdmin installation. By manipulating the lang parameter, pma_parameter, or cookie values with invalid data, the attacker can trigger error conditions that expose sensitive internal information.

The vulnerability manifests in the request parameter handling routines where invalid input triggers information-disclosing error responses. For detailed technical analysis, refer to the INCIBE Security Advisory which provides comprehensive technical documentation of the exploitation mechanism.

Detection Methods for CVE-2022-0813

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual HTTP requests containing malformed lang parameter values targeting phpMyAdmin endpoints
• Repeated requests with invalid or specially crafted pma_parameter values
• Anomalous cookie manipulation patterns in phpMyAdmin session requests
• Web server logs showing error responses with unusually detailed information

Detection Strategies

• Implement web application firewall rules to detect and block requests with malformed lang or pma_parameter values
• Monitor HTTP access logs for patterns of probing attempts against phpMyAdmin installations
• Deploy intrusion detection signatures to identify exploitation attempts targeting parameter manipulation
• Review web server error logs for increased error rates associated with phpMyAdmin request handling

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure alerting on abnormal error rates from phpMyAdmin application paths
• Monitor for reconnaissance activity targeting phpMyAdmin version detection endpoints
• Implement logging of all phpMyAdmin administrative access and parameter values
• Set up real-time monitoring for information disclosure patterns in HTTP responses

How to Mitigate CVE-2022-0813

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade phpMyAdmin to version 5.1.3 or later (for 5.x installations)
• Upgrade phpMyAdmin to version 4.9.10 or later (for 4.x installations)
• Restrict network access to phpMyAdmin installations using firewall rules or IP whitelisting
• Review web server logs for signs of previous exploitation attempts

Patch Information

The phpMyAdmin development team has released patched versions that address this vulnerability. Users should upgrade to phpMyAdmin 5.1.3 or later for the 5.x branch, or 4.9.10 or later for the 4.x branch. The official release announcement is available at the phpMyAdmin Release Announcement.

Additional security guidance is available through the Gentoo GLSA 202311-17 advisory for Gentoo Linux users.

Workarounds

• Implement network-level access controls to restrict phpMyAdmin access to trusted IP addresses only
• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with rules to filter malformed parameter requests
• Configure HTTP server to suppress verbose error messages from reaching clients
• Consider using VPN or SSH tunneling to access phpMyAdmin rather than exposing it directly to the network

# Apache configuration to restrict phpMyAdmin access by IP
<Directory /usr/share/phpmyadmin>
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    Allow from 10.0.0.0/8
</Directory>