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Joomla\!Application · Joomla

CVE-2024-40748

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.10.20 / 4.4.10 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
Lack of output escaping in the id attribute of menu lists.

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

A Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists due to improper output escaping of the id attribute in menu list elements. User-supplied input rendered into the id attribute is not sanitized before HTML output, allowing injection of malicious script content.

MitigationImplement proper output encoding/escaping for all values rendered into HTML id attributes within menu list components. Use context-appropriate encoding (HTML entity encoding for attribute values).

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:>= 3.9.0, < 3.10.20>= 4.0.0, < 4.4.10>= 5.0.0, < 5.2.3

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 version
    Locate the version.php file in your Joomla installation (typically in /libraries/src/Version.php or check the admin footer in the backend). Alternatively, access the administrator dashboard and check the system information or about page.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 3.9.0 to 3.10.19, 4.0.0 to 4.4.9, or 5.0.0 to 5.2.2.
  2. Verify menu component is in use
    Access the Joomla administrator panel and navigate to Menus > Manage (or /administrator/index.php?option=com_menus). Check if menu items exist or are being managed.
    Affected if Menu management functionality is accessible and the component is loaded.
  3. Inspect HTML output for id attribute handling
    Create a test menu item with a custom identifier in the menu item settings. Save the menu item and view the page source (or inspect element) to examine how the id attribute is rendered in the HTML output.
    Affected if The id attribute in the rendered HTML contains unsanitized user-supplied content (look for unescaped special characters like < > " or script tags).
  4. Review access to menu creation interface
    Log into the Joomla administrator backend and attempt to access the menu item creation form at /administrator/index.php?option=com_menus&task=item.add. Check if a low-privilege user (such as a Manager or Author) can access this interface.
    Affected if Users with limited permissions can access and save menu items where malicious content could be injected into id attributes.

You are affected if your Joomla version is 3.9.0 through 3.10.19, 4.0.0 through 4.4.9, or 5.0.0 through 5.2.2, and the menu component is accessible to users who can create or edit menu items.

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 3.10.20 / 4.4.10 / 5.2.3 or later
Fixed in 3.10.204.4.105.2.3
Interim mitigation

Implement proper output encoding/escaping for all values rendered into HTML id attributes within menu list components. Use context-appropriate encoding (HTML entity encoding for attribute values).

Recommended fix High confidence

Joomla 3.10.20 / 4.4.10 / 5.2.3 (depending on your current major version branch)

  1. 1. Identify your current Joomla! version by accessing the Joomla Administrator dashboard and checking the control panel or version information.
  2. 2. Based on your current major version line, plan your upgrade: If using Joomla 3.x (3.9.0 to 3.10.x), upgrade to 3.10.20 or later. If using Joomla 4.x (4.0.0 to 4.4.x), upgrade to 4.4.10 or later. If using Joomla 5.x (5.0.0 to 5.2.x), upgrade to 5.2.3 or later.
  3. 3. Before upgrading, perform a full backup of your Joomla! site including files and database.
  4. 4. Review the Joomla! upgrade documentation at docs.joomla.org for your specific upgrade path.
  5. 5. Use the Joomla! Update component within the Administrator panel to apply the upgrade, or download the upgrade package from downloads.joomla.org and install it via the Extensions Manager.
  6. 6. After upgrading, clear any caching and verify that the menu functionality works correctly.
  7. 7. Test that the XSS vulnerability is remediated by confirming that menu item IDs are properly escaped in the HTML output.
Caveat Minor releases typically do not introduce breaking changes, but always test on a staging environment before deploying to production; major version jumps (e.g., 3.x to 4.x) may require significant migration testing

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
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2024-40748 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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