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Joomla\!Application · Joomla

CVE-2023-23755

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.3.2 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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! 4.2.0 through 4.3.1. The lack of rate limiting allowed brute force attacks against MFA methods.

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

Joomla! CMS versions 4.2.0 through 4.3.1 lack rate limiting on MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) authentication endpoints, allowing attackers to repeatedly guess MFA codes through brute force attacks.

MitigationImplement rate limiting on authentication endpoints, preferably by upgrading to Joomla! 4.3.2 or later which contains the fix, or by configuring a WAF/IPS to enforce request limits on the login flow.

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:>= 4.2.0, < 4.3.2

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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. Identify Joomla installation version
    Access the Joomla administrator panel and navigate to System > Information > Joomla Information to view the installed version. Alternatively, check the /libraries/cms/version.php file or the manifest XML file in /administrator/manifests/files/joomla.xml
    Affected if Installed version is 4.2.0, 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.2.5, 4.2.6, 4.2.7, 4.2.8, 4.2.9, 4.2.10, 4.3.0, or 4.3.1 (any version >= 4.2.0 and < 4.3.2)
  2. Confirm MFA functionality is enabled
    In Joomla admin, go to Users > Manage, click on a user, and inspect the User Details tab for Multi-Factor Authentication configuration. Alternatively, check the database table #__extensions for MFA-related plugins (type: plugin, folder: quickicon or authentication) that are enabled
    Affected if MFA is configured or enabled for any user account in the Joomla installation
  3. Verify rate limiting is not enforced on auth endpoints
    Inspect the web server configuration (Apache/Nginx) or any WAF/IPS rules for rate limiting on login-related endpoints (typically /administrator/index.php?option=com_users&task=plugin.edit&plugin_id=... or MFA verification routes). Check if Joomla system plugin for rate limiting is installed and enabled
    Affected if No rate limiting is configured on MFA authentication endpoints and the server allows unlimited requests to the login verification flow

The environment is affected if Joomla CMS version is between 4.2.0 and 4.3.1 inclusive, MFA is enabled, and no external or application-level rate limiting is enforced on authentication endpoints.

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 4.3.2 or later
Fixed in 4.3.2
Interim mitigation

Implement rate limiting on authentication endpoints, preferably by upgrading to Joomla! 4.3.2 or later which contains the fix, or by configuring a WAF/IPS to enforce request limits on the login flow.

Recommended fix High confidence

Joomla! 4.3.2

  1. Create a complete backup of the Joomla! database and all files
  2. Download Joomla! 4.3.2 from the official Joomla! download page (downloads.joomla.org)
  3. Log in to the Joomla! Administrator dashboard
  4. Navigate to System → Update → Joomla! Update
  5. Install the Joomla! 4.3.2 update
  6. Clear the Joomla! cache (System → Clear Cache)
  7. Verify the site is functioning correctly after the update
  8. Confirm MFA methods are properly configured in Users → Manage → [User] → Multi-Factor Authentication

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

Fix this in Joomla\! Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2023-23755 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