phpMyFAQ Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Data Query Logic Vulnerability - CVE-2026-34973

phpMyFAQ is an open source FAQ web application. Prior to version 4.1.1 the searchCustomPages() method in phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Search.php uses real_escape_string() (via escape()) to sanitize the search term before embedding it in LIKE clauses. However real_escape_string() does not escape SQL LIKE metacharacters (match any sequence) and _ (match any single character). An unauthenticated attacker can inject these wildcards into search queries causing them to match unintended records including content that was not meant to be surfaced resulting in information disclosure. This issue has been patched in version 4.1.1.