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Joomla\!Application · Joomla

CVE-2019-12765

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-06-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.9.6 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
An issue was discovered in Joomla! before 3.9.7. The CSV export of com_actionslogs is vulnerable to CSV injection.

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 confidence

The com_actionslogs component in Joomla! before 3.9.7 has a CSV export function that fails to sanitize user-supplied data before embedding it into CSV files. An attacker can inject spreadsheet formula characters (=, +, -, @) that execute arbitrary commands when the exported CSV is opened in spreadsheet software like Excel or LibreOffice.

MitigationUpgrade to Joomla! 3.9.7 or later, which implements proper escaping of formula characters in CSV exports. As a temporary workaround, warn users to disable macro execution in spreadsheet applications before opening exported files.

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
Affected:>= 3.9.0, <= 3.9.6

CVSS 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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Joomla! version
    Navigate to Joomla! admin dashboard > System > System Information, or check the libraries/cms.php file for the JVERSION constant
    Affected if version is 3.9.0, 3.9.1, 3.9.2, 3.9.3, 3.9.4, 3.9.5, or 3.9.6
  2. Verify com_actionslogs component exists
    Check for the /administrator/components/com_actionslogs directory in the Joomla installation filesystem
    Affected if the com_actionslogs component directory is present on the server
  3. Confirm Actions Logging feature is enabled
    In Joomla admin, go to System > Global Configuration > Actions Logging, or inspect the #__actions_log_extensions table in the database
    Affected if Actions Logging is enabled and logging user actions
  4. Verify CSV export functionality is accessible
    Attempt to access the CSV export feature in com_actionslogs, typically via administrator/index.php?option=com_actionslogs&task=logs.exportCSV or similar export endpoint
    Affected if the CSV export function is accessible to administrators or users with actions log permissions

User is affected if Joomla! version is 3.9.0 through 3.9.6 AND the Actions Logging component with CSV export is installed and enabled on the site.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.9.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Joomla! 3.9.7 or later, which implements proper escaping of formula characters in CSV exports. As a temporary workaround, warn users to disable macro execution in spreadsheet applications before opening exported files.

Recommended fix High confidence

Joomla! 3.9.7

  1. Create a complete backup of your Joomla site including database and files
  2. Log in to the Joomla Administrator backend
  3. Navigate to Components > Joomla Update, or download Joomla 3.9.7 from the official Joomla downloads page
  4. Install the Joomla 3.9.7 update package through the Joomla Update component or Extensions > Manage > Install
  5. After installation, verify the Joomla version shows 3.9.7 in System > System Information
  6. Test the com_actionslogs CSV export functionality to confirm it works correctly
Caveat Joomla 3.9.7 is a patch release; minor version updates typically have minimal breaking changes, but always test in staging first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Joomla\! Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-12765 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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