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Joomla\!Application · Joomla

CVE-2019-6262

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-01-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.9.2 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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 3.9.2. Inadequate checks of the Global Configuration helpurl settings allowed stored XSS.

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

A stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Joomla! CMS versions prior to 3.9.2. The Global Configuration helpurl setting lacked proper input validation, allowing malicious JavaScript to be stored and executed when users access the help functionality.

MitigationUpgrade Joomla! to version 3.9.2 or later which implements proper input sanitization for the helpurl parameter.

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:>= 2.5.0, < 3.9.2

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/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 checks

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

  1. Check Joomla version
    Log into the administrator backend and navigate to Help > System Information, or check the libraries/cms/version.php file. Alternatively, view the meta generator tag on the frontend source.
    Affected if Version is 2.5.0 or higher but lower than 3.9.2
  2. Access Global Configuration helpurl setting
    Log into Joomla administrator panel, go to System > Global Configuration, then locate the Help url field in the System tab.
    Affected if The helpurl field is accessible and can be modified
  3. Inspect helpurl for XSS payloads
    Examine the current helpurl value in Global Configuration for any JavaScript code, HTML tags, or suspicious URL patterns such as javascript:alert() or <script> tags.
    Affected if The helpurl field contains unsanitized JavaScript or HTML tags that could execute in a user's browser
  4. Verify help functionality is accessible
    Test accessing the help functionality on the frontend or backend - click any help button or icon to see if it loads the helpurl value.
    Affected if Help functionality is actively used or accessible, as the XSS triggers when users access help

You are affected if your Joomla version is between 2.5.0 and 3.9.1 and the helpurl setting in Global Configuration contains unsanitized JavaScript that would execute when users access help.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.9.2 or later
Fixed in 3.9.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Joomla! to version 3.9.2 or later which implements proper input sanitization for the helpurl parameter.

Fix this in Joomla\! Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-6262 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