JoomlaCMS
CVE-2009-1280
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 · uneditedMultiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in the com_media component for Joomla! 1.5.x through 1.5.9 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of unspecified victims via unknown 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 confidenceThe com_media component in Joomla! 1.5.x through 1.5.9 contains a CSRF vulnerability that allows remote attackers to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge. The specific attack vectors are not detailed in available sources, but CSRF attacks typically exploit the trust a site places in a user's browser by tricking them into submitting malicious requests.
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= 1.5.0= 1.5.1= 1.5.2= 1.5.3= 1.5.4= 1.5.5= 1.5.6= 1.5.7= 1.5.8= 1.5.9CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/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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Determine installed Joomla versionLog into the Joomla administrator panel and check the version displayed on the login page or in Help > System Info. Alternatively, inspect the file /libraries/joomla/version.php and look for the $RELEASE variable which indicates the 1.5.x version number.Affected if The installed version is 1.5.0, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.3, 1.5.4, 1.5.5, 1.5.6, 1.5.7, 1.5.8, or 1.5.9.
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Verify com_media component is presentCheck if the directory /components/com_media/ exists on the web server and contains the component files such as media.php or the controller.php file.Affected if The com_media component is installed and accessible on the Joomla site.
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Check for missing anti-CSRF token validationInspect the com_media component controller file (typically in /components/com_media/controller.php or similar) and search for token validation code such as JRequest::checkToken or JSession::checkToken. Also examine any form submission handlers in the component for token checks.Affected if The com_media component code lacks token validation calls (like JRequest::checkToken or JSession::checkToken) before processing state-changing operations.
A Joomla site is affected if it runs any version from 1.5.0 through 1.5.9, has the com_media component installed, and the component does not validate anti-CSRF tokens before processing requests.
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 dataImplement anti-CSRF tokens (form tokens) on all state-changing operations in the com_media component and validate these tokens server-side before processing any requests. Additionally, consider upgrading from Joomla 1.5 as it reached end-of-life in 2012.
Fix this in Joomla
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-1280 — 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-2009-1280 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