JoomlaCMS
CVE-2008-3228
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedJoomla! before 1.5.4 does not configure .htaccess to apply certain security checks that "block common exploits" to SEF URLs, which has unknown impact and remote attack vectors.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceJoomla! versions prior to 1.5.4 ship with an incomplete .htaccess file that does not include security rules to protect SEF (Search Engine Friendly) URLs from common exploit vectors, allowing potential remote attackers to inject malicious requests through these URLs.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
JoomlaCMS
<= 1.5.3= 1.0= 1.0.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3= 1.0.4= 1.0.5= 1.0.6= 1.0.7= 1.0.8= 1.0.9CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Joomla versionCheck the version.php file in the Joomla installation root (administrator/components/com_admin/admin.admin.php or libraries/joomla/version.php) or look for a VERSION.txt file. Alternatively, check the configuration.php file for version information.Affected if The installed version is 1.0.x (1.0 through 1.0.9) or 1.5.0 through 1.5.3
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Confirm SEF URL support is enabledOpen the configuration.php file in the Joomla root directory and look for the variable 'sef_rewrite' set to 1, or 'sef' set to 1. This indicates SEF URLs are enabled.Affected if SEF (Search Engine Friendly) URLs are enabled (sef_rewrite = 1 or sef = 1)
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Locate and inspect the .htaccess fileLocate the .htaccess file in the Joomla installation root directory. Open it and examine its contents for security rewrite rules.Affected if The .htaccess file exists but does not contain security rules that filter or block malicious patterns in SEF URLs (such as rules checking for suspicious query parameters, injection patterns, or base64-encoded content)
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Verify SEF-related security rules in .htaccessSearch the .htaccess file for RewriteCond or RewriteRule directives that specifically address SEF URL security, such as rules blocking common exploit patterns (e.g., patterns matching 'mosConfig', 'eval', 'base64', or other injection vectors in the URL path).Affected if The .htaccess lacks explicit RewriteCond rules that protect SEF URL parameters from manipulation or injection attacks
You are affected if you run Joomla 1.0.x or 1.5.0-1.5.3, have SEF URLs enabled, and your .htaccess file is missing security rules that protect SEF URLs from exploit vectors.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataConfigure .htaccess with security rules that block common exploit patterns in SEF URLs, such as those targeting parameter tampering and injection attacks.
Fix this in Joomla
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3228 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-3228 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data