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Joomla\!Application · Joomla

CVE-2020-10243

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.9.16 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 3.9.16. The lack of type casting of a variable in a SQL statement leads to a SQL injection vulnerability in the Featured Articles frontend menutype.

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 SQL injection vulnerability exists in Joomla! versions prior to 3.9.16 within the Featured Articles frontend menu type. The vulnerability stems from improper type handling of a variable in a SQL query, allowing an attacker to manipulate query parameters and potentially extract, modify, or delete database contents.

MitigationUpgrade Joomla! to version 3.9.16 or later. This version implements proper type casting for the vulnerable parameter, eliminating the SQL injection vector.

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:>= 1.7.0, < 3.9.16

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. Determine your Joomla installation version
    Navigate to the Joomla administrator dashboard and check the version information typically found in Help > About or check the libraries/cms.php file for the VERSION constant
    Affected if The installed version is less than 3.9.16 (versions 1.7.0 through 3.9.15 are affected)
  2. Identify Featured Articles menu items in use
    In the Joomla administrator, go to Menus > All Menu Items and search for or filter by menu item type "Featured Articles" or check if any menu items have the menu type set to "Featured Articles"
    Affected if Any public-facing menu item uses the Featured Articles menu type on an affected Joomla version
  3. Verify database query logging
    Enable Joomla debug mode or database query logging via the Global Configuration > System tab, or inspect the database configuration to confirm if logging is active
    Affected if The vulnerability requires the Featured Articles feature to be accessible, and no input sanitization is being applied at the web application firewall level
  4. Check for custom menu type overrides
    Inspect the /components/com_content/views/featured/ directory for any template overrides that may or may not mitigate the underlying type handling issue in the default code
    Affected if The core vulnerability exists in the default Joomla code regardless of overrides, but overrides could potentially mask or fix the issue

You are affected if your Joomla version is 3.9.15 or earlier (including 1.7.0 through 3.9.15) AND you have any public-facing menu items using the Featured Articles menu type.

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 3.9.16 or later
Fixed in 3.9.16
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Joomla! to version 3.9.16 or later. This version implements proper type casting for the vulnerable parameter, eliminating the SQL injection vector.

Recommended fix High confidence

Joomla! 3.9.16

  1. Upgrade Joomla! to version 3.9.16 or later to resolve the SQL injection vulnerability in the Featured Articles frontend menittype.
  2. After upgrading, verify that the Featured Articles functionality works correctly.
  3. Review the Joomla! 3.9.16 release notes for any additional security fixes that were included.
Caveat Review the Joomla! 3.9.16 changelog to ensure compatibility with any third-party extensions or custom code

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

Fix this in Joomla\! Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

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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-2020-10243 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