Joomla\!Application · Joomla
CVE-2018-11324
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 Joomla! Core before 3.8.8. A long running background process, such as remote checks for core or extension updates, could create a race condition where a session that was expected to be destroyed would be recreated.
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! Core before 3.8.8 contains a race condition vulnerability in session management during long-running background processes (such as remote checks for core or extension updates). When a session is marked for destruction, a timing vulnerability can cause it to be recreated instead of being properly terminated, potentially leading to session fixation or reuse issues.
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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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 installed Joomla versionAccess the administrator backend and navigate to Help > System Info > Joomla! Version, or check the libraries/cms/version.php file for the VERSION constantAffected if the version displayed is below 3.8.8 (e.g., 3.8.7, 3.8.6, etc.)
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Verify background update checking is enabledIn Joomla admin, go to Components > Joomla Update or check configuration.xml for update settings. Long-running processes occur when Joomla checks for core or extension updates remotely.Affected if automatic background update checks are enabled and the Joomla version is below 3.8.8
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Inspect session handler configurationCheck the configuration.php file for the $session_handler setting and verify the PHP session.save_path is properly configured. Also review libraries/joomla/session/handler.phpAffected if session handler is set to database or files and the Joomla version is below 3.8.8 with active sessions during update checks
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Review session table for anomaliesCheck the #__session (orjos_session) database table for duplicate session IDs or sessions that show repeated creation/destruction timestampsAffected if duplicate session IDs exist or sessions show rapid creation-destruction cycles indicating the race condition
You are affected if your installed Joomla version is below 3.8.8 and you use background processes such as automatic update checks, as the race condition in session destruction/recreation only manifests under these conditions.
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 patch that corrects the race condition in session handling during background tasks.
Fix this in Joomla\!
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 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 $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11324 — 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-2018-11324 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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