Joomla\!Application · Joomla
CVE-2019-15028
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 · uneditedIn Joomla! before 3.9.11, inadequate checks in com_contact could allow mail submission in disabled forms.
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 confidenceIn Joomla! before 3.9.11, the com_contact component lacked adequate server-side validation checks, allowing malicious actors to submit mail through contact forms that had been disabled in the admin interface. This access control bypass occurs because the form's disabled status was only enforced client-side rather than being validated server-side.
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
>= 1.6.2, < 3.9.11CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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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Check Joomla! versionLocate the version file at /libraries/cms/version.php or check the #__extensions table in the database for the com_contact entry. Alternatively, access the Joomla admin dashboard and check the footer for the version number.Affected if The installed version is >= 1.6.2 and < 3.9.11
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Verify com_contact component is enabledQuery the #__extensions table in the database: SELECT * FROM #__extensions WHERE element='com_contact' AND enabled=1; or access Components > Contacts in the admin panel.Affected if The com_contact component is enabled (enabled=1)
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Identify disabled contact formsQuery the #__contact_details table: SELECT id, name, published FROM #__contact_details WHERE published=0; This lists contact forms disabled in the admin interface.Affected if There are contact forms with published=0 (disabled) present in the database
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Test form submission to disabled contactLocate a disabled contact form's ID from the database query above, then attempt to submit a contact form request to that contact ID. The vulnerability exists if the submission is accepted despite the form being disabled.Affected if Form submissions to disabled contacts are accepted by the server
You are affected if your Joomla! version is >= 1.6.2 and < 3.9.11, the com_contact component is enabled, and disabled contact forms exist in the system - the server will accept submissions to those disabled forms.
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 data3.9.11
Upgrade to Joomla! 3.9.11 or later which implements proper server-side validation to enforce disabled form status. If immediate patching is not possible, consider disabling the contact component entirely at the server level.
Fix this in Joomla\!
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 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 $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-15028 — 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-2019-15028 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