Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate to Joomla with high-privilege credentials
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DeliveryIdentify component blocked by ACL policy
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ExploitCraft POST request to /api custom fields webservice endpoint
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ExecutionServer skips component-level ACL validation
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ImpactCreate unauthorized custom field in restricted component
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Access control enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Defense Evasion The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires an authenticated session with high-privilege Joomla credentials (confirmed by PR:H in the CVSS 4.0 vector) - unauthenticated actors cannot exploit this flaw. The Joomla REST API webservice layer must be reachable by the attacker over the network, which is not the default in all Joomla configurations and may require explicit enablement or exposure. The attack is specifically limited to the custom fields component of the webservice API - the attacker can create custom fields for components their ACL denies them, but cannot achieve arbitrary code execution, account takeover, or data exfiltration beyond low-level field metadata. The vulnerability is only meaningful in deployments where ACL-based component segregation is used as an access boundary between different user groups; installations where all elevated users hold equivalent full-admin rights have no exploitable ACL gap. |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N, score 5.1) appropriately reflects medium-low real-world severity. The high-privilege requirement (PR:H) is the most significant limiting factor: exploitation is restricted to users already holding elevated Joomla credentials, not the general user population. The 'Authentication Bypass' tag in the source intelligence is somewhat misleading - this is more precisely an authorization bypass (ACL circumvention within an authenticated session), not a bypass of the authentication mechanism itself. No EPSS data was provided, and the absence of a CISA KEV listing means active exploitation is not confirmed. No POC code was identified. Real-world risk is most acute in multi-tenant Joomla deployments where component-level ACL segregation is an explicit security boundary - for example, where different editorial teams are restricted to specific content components. Environments where all elevated users already have full administrative rights have no meaningful ACL boundary to bypass and are at negligible effective risk from this flaw. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An authenticated Joomla user with a high-privilege role - such as a manager or administrator account that has been restricted from specific components via ACL - identifies a component they are denied access to in the web UI. The attacker crafts a direct HTTP POST request to the Joomla custom fields webservice endpoint (e.g., /api/index.php/v1/fields/fields), including the identifier of the restricted component in the payload. The server processes the request without performing the expected component-level ACL check, successfully creating a custom field in the target component. No public POC has been identified, so exploitation currently requires manual knowledge of the Joomla webservice API structure. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Aug 18, 2026
Improper access control (CWE-284) in the custom fields webservice API of Joomla! CMS 4.0.0-5.4.7 and 6.0.0-6.1.2 allows authenticated high-privilege users to create custom fields for components whose ACL restrictions should deny them access. The flaw represents an authorization bypass at the API layer - the REST webservice endpoints for custom fields do not enforce the same component-level ACL checks applied in the web UI, creating a privilege boundary discrepancy. No public exploit code and no CISA KEV listing have been identified at time of analysis; the CVSS 4.0 score of 5.1 with PR:H reflects that exploitation is constrained to already-authenticated, elevated users.
RemediationAI
Administrators should upgrade Joomla! CMS to a version beyond the affected ranges - a release later than 5.4.7 for the 4.x/5.x branch and later than 6.1.2 for the 6.x branch - per the Joomla Security Centre advisory at https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/20260804-core-improper-acl-checks-for-custom-fields-webservice-endpoints.html. Exact patched release version numbers are not specified in the available advisory data; consult the Joomla downloads page and release notes for the current stable release in each branch. As a compensating control prior to patching, administrators can restrict access to Joomla's REST API layer (typically served under the /api/ path) at the web server or firewall level, limiting API access to trusted IP ranges or disabling it entirely if not in active use - note that this will break any legitimate third-party API integrations or headless front-end consumers. Following any patch or access restriction, administrators should audit existing custom field configurations for each component to detect any unauthorized fields created by exploiting this flaw.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
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
Joomla! CMS (cpe:2.3:a:joomla!_project:joomla!_cms) is an open-source PHP content management system with a RESTful webservice API layer that exposes component operations over HTTP/HTTPS. Custom fields are a core CMS feature allowing administrators and authorized users to extend content with additional metadata fields scoped to specific components. The vulnerability root cause is CWE-284 (Improper Access Control): the server-side handler for the custom fields webservice endpoints omits or incorrectly implements the ACL check that verifies whether the authenticated user holds permissions for the target component. Joomla's ACL system is component-scoped - individual users or groups can be granted or denied access to specific components - but this check is not consistently applied at the API level, diverging from the enforcement present in the UI layer. The flaw spans both the Joomla 5.x and 6.x major branches, suggesting the root cause exists in shared core code predating the 6.x branch split.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Network-accessible API requiring high-privilege authentication; limited to low confidentiality and integrity impact on the vulnerable system with no scope change.
Primary rating from Vendor (Joomla).
CVSS VectorVendor: Joomla
DescriptionCVE.org
Joomla! Core - [20260804] - Improper ACL checks for custom fields webservice endpoints in Joomla 4.0.0-5.4.7, 6.0.0-6.1.2 - An improper access check allows unauthorized users to create fields for inaccessible components.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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EUVD-2026-61033
GHSA-cmwh-3gg6-hvmv
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB