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ContaoApplication

CVE-2024-45612

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.13.49 / 5.3.15 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Contao is an Open Source CMS. In affected versions an untrusted user can inject insert tags into the canonical tag, which are then replaced on the web page (front end). Users are advised to update to Contao 4.13.49, 5.3.15 or 5.4.3. Users unable to upgrade should disable canonical tags in the root page settings.

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

Contao CMS fails to properly sanitize canonical tag inputs, allowing untrusted users to inject insert tags (Contao's template variable system) into canonical URLs. When the web page renders, these injected insert tags are processed and replaced with their evaluated content on the frontend, leading to potential injection-based attacks.

MitigationUpdate to Contao 4.13.49, 5.3.15, or 5.4.3 to receive the patch, or alternatively disable canonical tags in the root page settings as a workaround.

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
ContaoApplication
Affected:>= 4.13.0, < 4.13.49>= 5.3.0, < 5.3.15>= 5.4.0, < 5.4.3

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
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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. Determine installed Contao version
    Check the version file: in the Contao installation root, examine the composer.json file or the vendor/contao/core-bundle/composer.json file. Look for the 'contao' or 'contao-core-bundle' version entry. Alternatively, check system/contao.json if it exists.
    Affected if The version is 4.13.0 through 4.13.48, 5.3.0 through 5.3.14, or 5.4.0 through 5.4.2
  2. Verify canonical tag feature status in root page settings
    Log in to the Contao back end, navigate to the site structure, edit each root page, and locate the 'Canonical URL' or 'Canonical tags' setting in the page settings or layout section. Check whether the canonical tag feature is enabled.
    Affected if Canonical tags are enabled on any root page in the installation
  3. Query canonical URL configuration from database
    If direct back end access is unavailable, query the database table tl_page for root pages: SELECT id, canonical, canonicalLink FROM tl_page WHERE type='root' AND canonical='1'. This shows which root pages have canonical URL settings activated.
    Affected if Any root pages have canonical tags enabled (canonical field = 1 or canonicalLink is set)
  4. Inspect page layout configuration for canonical settings
    Check the page layout assigned to root pages: examine the tl_layout table or the layout configuration files in the Resources/contao/layout/ directory. Look for canonical URL related settings within the layout configuration.
    Affected if The assigned layout has canonical URL settings enabled

You are affected if your Contao installation version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND canonical tags are enabled in any root page settings, as this combination allows the insert tag injection to be processed and rendered on the frontend.

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 4.13.49 / 5.3.15 / 5.4.3 or later
Fixed in 4.13.495.3.155.4.3
Interim mitigation

Update to Contao 4.13.49, 5.3.15, or 5.4.3 to receive the patch, or alternatively disable canonical tags in the root page settings as a workaround.

Recommended fix High confidence

Contao 4.13.49 (for 4.x), 5.3.15 (for 5.3.x), or 5.4.3 (for 5.4.x)

  1. Identify your current Contao major version (4, 5.3, or 5.4)
  2. Backup your database and files before updating
  3. Update Contao to the appropriate fixed version: 4.13.49 for version 4.x, 5.3.15 for version 5.3.x, or 5.4.3 for version 5.4.x
  4. Clear the application cache after updating
  5. Verify canonical tags render correctly on the front end

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

Fix this in Contao Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

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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-2024-45612 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