Skip to main content

Joomla! CMS EUVDEUVD-2026-31887

| CVE-2026-35222 MEDIUM
SQL Injection (CWE-89)
2026-05-26 Joomla GHSA-pqh8-m9hh-m26w
6.9
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: Joomla
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain or compromise high-privileged Joomla! credentials
  2. Delivery
    Authenticate to Joomla! administrator backend
  3. Exploit
    Submit request to com_tags component with crafted ORDER BY parameter
  4. Execution
    Trigger blind SQL injection in database query
  5. Persist
    Infer database contents via time-based or boolean response differences
  6. Impact
    Exfiltrate sensitive data (credentials, configuration) character by character

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Parameterized queries, prepared statements
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Initial Access, Persistence

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires authentication as a high-privileged Joomla! user - specifically confirmed by the CVSS 4.0 vector PR:H and the vendor advisory title 'authenticated blind sqli in com_tags.' This means the attacker must already hold administrator-level access to the Joomla! backend, not merely a registered front-end account. The com_tags component must be active (it is enabled by default in standard Joomla! installations but may be disabled in hardened or stripped-down deployments). No user interaction is required beyond the attacker's own authenticated session (UI:N). Exploitation is limited to confidentiality impact only - the vulnerability cannot be used to modify or delete data, nor does it affect systems beyond the Joomla! CMS installation itself (SC:N/SI:N/SA:N). The blind nature of the injection means exploitation requires repeated, time-consuming requests and is not trivially automatable as a one-shot attack.

Impact

Real-world risk is moderate-to-low despite the broad version coverage, due to several limiting signals. The CVSS 4.0 score of 6.9 reflects the PR:H requirement (high-privilege authenticated access), which substantially constrains the attacker surface to compromised administrator accounts or malicious insiders. The scope is limited to the vulnerable system (SC:N/SI:N/SA:N), and impact is confined to confidentiality (VC:H) with no integrity or availability consequences - aligning with a read-only blind exfiltration scenario. EPSS at 0.00% (0th percentile) signals negligible opportunistic exploitation probability at time of analysis. There is no CISA KEV listing and no public exploit code identified. Taken together, this is a real vulnerability warranting patching in any standard patch cycle, but it does not represent an emergency priority unless the deployment involves high-privilege accounts held by untrusted parties (e.g., multi-tenant hosting environments, reseller panels, or delegated admin scenarios). The blind nature of the SQLi means successful exploitation requires sustained interaction and cannot be trivially automated.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who has obtained Joomla! administrator credentials - whether through phishing, credential stuffing, or a prior breach - navigates to a com_tags-accessible backend endpoint and submits a crafted request with a malicious ORDER BY parameter (e.g., a time-based payload like SLEEP(5) or a boolean expression). By systematically varying the injected condition and observing response timing or behavioral differences, the attacker iterates through the database schema and extracts sensitive data such as user credentials, email addresses, or site configuration values stored in the Joomla! database. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, so exploitation currently requires manual crafting of blind injection payloads or adaptation of generic blind SQLi tooling (e.g., sqlmap) to this specific parameter.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAIv1 – Jun 08, 2026

Authenticated blind SQL injection in Joomla! CMS's com_tags component allows high-privileged attackers to exfiltrate database contents by supplying maliciously crafted ORDER BY clauses that are not properly validated. Affected versions span two distinct release trains: the 4.x/5.x line (4.0.0 through 5.4.5) and the 6.x line (6.0.0 through 6.1.0), meaning the vulnerability persists across both legacy and current major releases. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and the EPSS score of 0.00% indicates negligible automated exploitation probability, though the high-privilege requirement significantly limits the realistic attacker pool.

RemediationAI

Apply the vendor-released patch documented in the Joomla! Security Centre advisory at https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/1039-20260507-core-authenticated-blind-sqli-in-com-tags.html. The exact patched release versions for the 4.x/5.x and 6.x lines are not independently confirmed in the available input data - consult the advisory directly for authoritative fix version numbers before upgrading. As a compensating control for sites that cannot immediately upgrade, restrict access to the Joomla! administrator backend to trusted IP ranges using web server access controls (e.g., Apache mod_authz_host or nginx allow/deny directives), which eliminates remote exploitation surface since PR:H is required. Note that this workaround only limits remote attacker reach - a locally present or VPN-connected malicious administrator would still be able to exploit the vulnerability. Disabling the com_tags component entirely (if tags functionality is not required) also eliminates the vulnerable code path, though this will remove tagging functionality from the frontend. Review administrator accounts and enforce the principle of least privilege to reduce the pool of accounts capable of triggering this vulnerability.

Affected VersionsENISA

Joomla! CMS 6.0.0-6.1.0
Joomla! CMS 4.0.0-5.4.5

Affected Packages

euvd joomla_cms no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The affected component, com_tags, is the native content-tagging subsystem bundled with Joomla! CMS (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:joomla!_project:joomla!_cms:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*). The root cause is CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command), specifically arising from insufficient sanitization or allowlist validation of user-controlled sort/order parameters passed to database queries. ORDER BY clauses are a classic blind SQLi vector because they cannot use parameterized query placeholders in most SQL dialects - the column or direction value must be interpolated directly into the query string, requiring explicit allowlist enforcement. Failure to validate against an allowlist of permitted column names enables attackers to inject conditional SQL expressions (e.g., time-based or boolean-based payloads) to infer database contents character by character. The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N) confirms the injection is exploitable over the network with low complexity but yields only confidentiality impact - consistent with a read-only blind extraction technique that cannot modify data.

Know when Joomla Cms gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

Vendor (Joomla) PRIMARY 6.9 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (Joomla) · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorVendor: Joomla

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
High
Vulnerable system: Integrity
None
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

2
CVSS changed
May 26, 2026 - 17:22 NVD
6.9 (MEDIUM)
CVE Published
May 26, 2026 - 16:45 nvd
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

Improperly validated order clauses lead to a SQL injection vulnerability in com_tags.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.0%
Top 100% exploitable
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.0%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

34
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +34
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

SQL injection exploits the way applications construct database queries by mixing user input directly into SQL statements.

CVE-2026-23899 HIGH POC
8.6 Apr 01

Improper access control in Joomla! CMS webservice endpoints allows unauthorized attackers to bypass authentication and a

CVE-2026-48902 CRITICAL
9.8 May 26

Transport encryption downgrade in Joomla! CMS password and username reset workflows causes reset links to be generated w

CVE-2026-73373 HIGH
8.9 Aug 18

Unrestricted SHTML file upload in Joomla! CMS affects all versions from 1.0.0 through 5.4.7 and 6.0.0 through 6.1.2, imp

CVE-2026-92222 HIGH
8.9 Sep 29

Server-side request forgery (SSRF) in Joomla CMS versions 4.0.0-5.4.8 and 6.0.0-6.1.3 allows an authenticated, high-priv

CVE-2026-73327 HIGH
8.7 Aug 12

Path traversal (Zip Slip) in Joomla 6.1.1's com_joomlaupdate component enables persistent remote code execution when a S

CVE-2026-23898 HIGH
8.6 Apr 01

Arbitrary file deletion in Joomla! CMS com_joomlaupdate component via the autoupdate server mechanism allows remote atta

CVE-2026-35223 HIGH
8.6 May 26

Authorization bypass in Joomla CMS com_config webservice endpoints allows authenticated attackers with high privileges t

CVE-2026-71574 HIGH
8.5 Aug 18

Inconsistent access control enforcement in Joomla! CMS REST API webservice endpoints allows authenticated users with ins

CVE-2026-92227 HIGH
8.2 Sep 29

MFA bypass in Joomla! CMS 4.0.0 through 5.4.8 and 6.0.0 through 6.1.3 allows an attacker who can drive the login flow to

CVE-2026-73337 HIGH
8.2 Aug 18

Multi-factor authentication bypass in Joomla! CMS versions 4.0.0 through 5.4.7 and 6.0.0 through 6.1.2 allows remote att

CVE-2026-48897 HIGH
8.2 May 26

Authentication bypass in Joomla! CMS 4.0.0-5.4.5 and 6.0.0-6.1.0 allows remote attackers to circumvent multi-factor auth

CVE-2026-48896 HIGH
8.2 May 26

Two-factor authentication bypass in Joomla! CMS versions 4.0.0-5.4.5 and 6.0.0-6.1.0 allows remote attackers to circumve

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy