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Modals Pro Extension EUVDEUVD-2026-77309

| CVE-2026-88853 HIGH
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79)
2026-09-14 Joomla GHSA-xc7p-wr44-hv2x
7.5
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: Joomla
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Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Obtain Joomla Author account
  2. Delivery
    Craft article embedding Modals Pro shortcode with malicious JS event handler
  3. Exploit
    Publish or submit article for review
  4. Execution
    Victim admin or editor views article
  5. Persist
    Modal fires injected JavaScript in victim browser
  6. Impact
    Steal session token or perform privileged action

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Output encoding, context-aware escaping
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Initial Access, Execution

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 Joomla user account with at least the Author role (content creation rights). The Modals Pro extension (regularlabs.com) must be installed, licensed, and active on the target Joomla site. The attacker must have the ability to publish or submit articles that contain Modals Pro modal shortcodes with event handler parameters. Exploitation is further limited by the requirement that a victim with higher privileges must view the attacker's crafted article for the stored XSS payload to fire. Default Joomla installations without the Modals Pro extension are entirely unaffected, and sites where all article authors are fully trusted administrators are not at meaningful risk from privilege escalation via this path.

Impact

The vendor-supplied CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N) scores 7.5. The AT:P (Attack Topology Present) flag correctly signals that a specific precondition - an Author account - is required, meaningfully limiting exploitability. However, PR:H likely overstates the privilege level: in Joomla's permission hierarchy, 'Author' is a low-to-medium trust role, not an administrator, making PR:L a more accurate reflection. The UI:N designation in CVSS 4.0 is defensible for stored XSS in the sense that the attacker performs no ongoing interaction after planting the payload, though a victim must visit the page. No EPSS score, KEV listing, or public POC is provided, placing real-world exploitation risk in the moderate category. The attack is gated by the need for an authenticated Joomla account and the Modals Pro extension being installed and active - significantly narrowing the exposed population compared to the raw score.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An authenticated Joomla Author crafts an article that includes a Modals Pro shortcode with a malicious JavaScript payload in the on-open or on-closed event handler parameter, then publishes or submits it for review. When a Joomla administrator or higher-privileged editor opens or previews the article, the modal fires automatically and executes the injected script in that user's browser, enabling session cookie theft or unauthorized privileged actions on behalf of the victim.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 14, 2026

Stored cross-site scripting in the Modals Pro extension for Joomla (regularlabs.com) versions prior to 17.0.0 allows an authenticated Author-level user to inject executable JavaScript via documented event handler options (on-open, on-closed) embedded in article content. The extension intentionally supports JavaScript lifecycle events for modal dialogs but fails to enforce access control distinguishing which roles may supply executable code versus static configuration parameters - enabling a lower-privileged author to weaponize a trusted-user feature. When a higher-privileged user views the crafted article, the modal fires the injected script in their browser context. No public exploit or CISA KEV listing exists at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

Upgrade the Modals Pro extension to version 17.0.0 or later, which enforces access control to restrict JavaScript event handler injection to appropriately trusted user roles. Update instructions and the vendor advisory are available at https://www.regularlabs.com/. As an interim workaround prior to patching, administrators should audit and restrict which user accounts hold the Joomla Author role or higher if those accounts are not fully trusted, and can consider disabling Modals Pro modal shortcode processing in untrusted content contexts through Joomla's plugin manager. Note that disabling the extension entirely as a compensating control removes modal dialog functionality site-wide.

Affected VersionsENISA

Modals (Pro) extension for Joomla 4.7.0-16.2.0

Affected Packages

euvd modals_pro_extension_for_joomla 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

Modals Pro is a premium Joomla CMS plugin by regularlabs.com (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:regularlabs.com:modals_(pro)_extension_for_joomla) that provides modal dialog functionality with JavaScript lifecycle event hooks configured via shortcode parameters. The root cause is CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation / Stored XSS) arising from a privilege-level confusion: the extension exposes event handler fields (on-open, on-closed) as documented, intentional features intended for trusted authors, but versions below 17.0.0 do not enforce which Joomla user roles may populate those fields with arbitrary JavaScript. Author-supplied article content containing Modals Pro shortcodes with event handler payloads is stored and later rendered without sanitization, executing in any viewer's browser context.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (Joomla) PRIMARY 7.5 HIGH
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/S:N/AU:N
vuln.today AI 5.4 MEDIUM

Author-level account required (PR:L); stored XSS triggers on victim page view (UI:R); script executes in victim browser crossing scope (S:C); no availability impact.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (Joomla).

CVSS VectorVendor: Joomla

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

DescriptionCVE.org

Joomla Extension - regularlabs.com - Privileged stored XSS via event handler option in Modals Pro extension for Joomla < 17.0.0 - Modals Pro intentionally supports JavaScript Events such as on-open and on-closed. Affected versions do not distinguish trusted extension configuration from event code supplied in ordinary article content. A lower-privileged author can therefore use a documented executable feature which should be reserved for trusted authors.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Modals Pro for Joomla (versions before 17.0.0) allows authenticated authors to inject JavaScript code that executes when administrators view their articles, enabling account compromise and site takeover. The vulnerability exploits insufficient access control on a documented feature, making it easily exploitable by any author and escalating privileges to administrative level. Leadership should prioritize immediate patching due to critical risk of administrative account compromise.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch: upgrade to Modals Pro version 17.0.0 or later.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 84% exploitable
Prevalence
Low
paid premium extension for Joomla, limited install base
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 HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
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
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact
High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

38
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +38
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Cross-Site Scripting occurs when an application accepts untrusted data and sends it to a web browser without proper validation or encoding.

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