Joomla\!Application · Joomla
CVE-2018-11321
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in com_fields in Joomla! Core before 3.8.8. Inadequate filtering allows users authorised to create custom fields to manipulate the filtering options and inject an unvalidated option.
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 confidenceInadequate filtering in Joomla! Core's com_fields component (versions before 3.8.8) allows authenticated users with custom field creation permissions to manipulate filtering options and inject unvalidated options, representing a filter bypass/injection vulnerability.
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
< 3.8.8CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 installation versionLocate the Joomla installation directory and check the version file (e.g., libraries/cms/version.php or check the administrator dashboard for the Joomla version displayed).Affected if The installed version is any release prior to 3.8.8 (e.g., 3.8.7, 3.8.6, 3.7.x, etc.).
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Confirm com_fields component is presentAccess the Joomla administrator panel and navigate to Components > Fields (com_fields), or check for the com_fields directory in the /components/ or /administrator/components/ folder.Affected if The com_fields component exists in the Joomla installation (this is true for all versions 3.7+).
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Verify custom field creation permissions existIn the Joomla administrator panel, go to Users > Access Levels or Users > Groups and examine which user groups have the "Create" permission for the "Custom Fields" feature (field.group creation privileges).Affected if Any authenticated user group is granted custom field creation or field group creation permissions, particularly beyond super users.
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Check for unauthorized custom field groupsNavigate to Components > Fields > Groups in the administrator panel and review any custom field groups that may have been created through the filtering injection vector.Affected if Unrecognized or suspicious field groups exist that were not created by legitimate administrators.
You are affected if your Joomla version is below 3.8.8 AND the com_fields component is accessible to authenticated users with custom field creation permissions.
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 data3.8.8
Upgrade to Joomla! 3.8.8 or later to obtain the patched filtering logic, or apply vendor-supplied patches to address the inadequate input validation in com_fields.
Fix this in Joomla\!
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11321 — 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-2018-11321 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