Description
An issue was discovered in cookie encryption in phpMyAdmin. The decryption of the username/password is vulnerable to a padding oracle attack. This can allow an attacker who has access to a user's browser cookie file to decrypt the username and password. Furthermore, the same initialization vector (IV) is used to hash the username and password stored in the phpMyAdmin cookie. If a user has the same password as their username, an attacker who examines the browser cookie can see that they are the same - but the attacker can not directly decode these values from the cookie as it is still hashed. All 4.6.x versions (prior to 4.6.4), 4.4.x versions (prior to 4.4.15.8), and 4.0.x versions (prior to 4.0.10.17) are affected.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | phpmyadmin | 4:4.6.4+dfsg1-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | phpmyadmin | 4:4.6.4+dfsg1-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | phpmyadmin | 4:4.6.4+dfsg1-1 | — |
| Debian 7 | phpmyadmin | 4:3.4.11.1-2+deb7u6 | DLA-626-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | phpmyadmin | 4:4.5.4.1-2ubuntu2.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | phpmyadmin | 4:4.0.10-1ubuntu0.1 | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | phpMyAdmin | 4.6.5.2-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10054-1 |
Alpine
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.2 | phpmyadmin | 4.4.15.8-r0 | — |
Advisories 2
- DLA-626-1 phpmyadmin - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10054-1 phpMyAdmin-4.6.5.2-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- https://www.phpmyadmin.net/security/PMASA-2016-29
- 94114 vdb-entry
- GLSA-201701-32 vendor-advisory
- [debian-lts-announce] 20190617 [SECURITY] [DLA 1821-1] phpmyadmin security update mailing-list