Joomla\!Application · Joomla
CVE-2008-4122
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! 1.5.8 does not set the secure flag for the session cookie in an https session, which makes it easier for remote attackers to capture this cookie by intercepting its transmission within an http session.
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 · high confidenceJoomla! 1.5.8 fails to set the 'Secure' flag on session cookies even when operating over HTTPS. This allows session cookies to potentially be transmitted over unencrypted HTTP connections, enabling remote attackers to intercept session credentials via network sniffing.
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
Joomla\!Application
= 1.5.8CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 (libraries/joomla/version.php) or access the Administrator panel and look at Help > System Info > System Information to confirm the installed version is 1.5.8Affected if The installed version is exactly 1.5.8 (the only affected version per this CVE)
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Confirm HTTPS is in useVerify the site is accessible over HTTPS by accessing the site URL with https:// prefix or checking the server configuration for SSL/TLS enforcementAffected if HTTPS is enabled and the site serves content over secure connections (the vulnerability only manifests when operating over HTTPS)
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Inspect session cookie configurationCheck the Joomla session configuration file (configuration.php) for the $force_ssl parameter and examine PHP's session.cookie_secure setting via phpinfo() or php -i commandAffected if The session cookie configuration does not enforce the Secure flag (the vulnerability exists when cookies lack this flag despite HTTPS usage)
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Verify actual cookie attributesLog into the Joomla site over HTTPS using a browser, open Developer Tools (F12), go to Application/Storage tab, find the session cookie (typically named session), and inspect the 'Secure' attributeAffected if The session cookie lacks the Secure flag set, meaning it can be transmitted over unencrypted HTTP connections
A user is affected if running Joomla 1.5.8 with HTTPS enabled but the session cookie does not have the Secure flag, allowing potential session hijacking via network sniffing.
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 dataEnable the secure flag for session cookies by configuring PHP's session.cookie_secure setting or modifying Joomla's session configuration to enforce HTTPS-only cookie transmission.
Fix this in Joomla\!
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4122 — 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-2008-4122 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
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