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Joomla\!Application · Joomla

CVE-2023-40626

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.10.14 / 4.4.1 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
The language file parsing process could be manipulated to expose environment variables. Environment variables might contain sensible information.

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 · moderate confidence

The vulnerability exists in the language file parsing component where user-controllable input can be manipulated to access environment variables. This suggests the parser is expanding or resolving variables from the environment during file processing, allowing an attacker to potentially retrieve sensitive data such as credentials, API keys, or configuration values stored in environment variables.

MitigationImplement strict input validation on language file paths/contents, restrict file access permissions, and ensure environment variables are not exposed to the parsing process. Review and sanitize how variable expansion occurs during language file processing.

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:>= 1.6.0, < 3.10.14>= 4.0.0, < 4.4.1= 5.0.0

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 the installed Joomla version
    Locate the version.php file in your Joomla installation (typically in the root includes or administrator/includes directory) and read the $RELEASE or VERSION variable, or check the administrator/help en-GB menu.xml for version info
    Affected if The version is >= 1.6.0 and < 3.10.14, OR >= 4.0.0 and < 4.4.1, OR exactly 5.0.0
  2. Determine if language file parsing is in use
    Inspect the Joomla configuration to confirm the language system is active; check if language files (INI or XML format) are being loaded by the application at runtime
    Affected if Language files are being processed and the system is running a vulnerable version
  3. Locate accessible language files
    Check the /language/ and /administrator/language/ directories for INI language files; verify if these files are writable or can be modified by the application user
    Affected if Language files exist and are accessible to be processed by the parser, particularly custom or third-party language files
  4. Verify environment variable exposure
    Review the PHP environment configuration (phpinfo or getenv calls) to confirm whether environment variables are accessible to the Joomla application process
    Affected if The application process can access environment variables that could be expanded during language file parsing

You are affected if running a Joomla version in the 3.10.14, 4.4.1, or 5.0.0 branches and the language file parsing component processes files that could contain or reference environment variables.

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 3.10.14 / 4.4.1 or later
Fixed in 3.10.144.4.1
Interim mitigation

Implement strict input validation on language file paths/contents, restrict file access permissions, and ensure environment variables are not exposed to the parsing process. Review and sanitize how variable expansion occurs during language file processing.

Recommended fix High confidence

Joomla! 3.10.14 / 4.4.1 / 5.0.1 (depending on your major version line)

  1. 1. Backup your current Joomla! installation and database before making any changes.
  2. 2. Identify your current Joomla! version from the administrator dashboard or version.php file.
  3. 3. For Joomla! 3.x (versions 1.6.0 through 3.10.13): Upgrade to Joomla! 3.10.14 or later.
  4. 4. For Joomla! 4.x (versions 4.0.0 through 4.4.0): Upgrade to Joomla! 4.4.1 or later.
  5. 5. For Joomla! 5.0.0: Upgrade to Joomla! 5.0.1 or later.
  6. 6. After upgrading, verify the installation was successful and test core functionality.
  7. 7. Review any environment variables exposed in your system configuration and rotate any sensitive credentials that may have been compromised.
Caveat Minor version upgrades within same branch (e.g., 3.10.x to 3.10.14) typically have no breaking changes; major version upgrades (3.x to 4.x, 4.x to 5.x) may require compatibility checks

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

Fix this in Joomla\! Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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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-2023-40626 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