dbcve.org
Joomla\!Application · Joomla

CVE-2026-48896

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.6 / 6.1.1 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
Insufficient state checks lead to a vector that allows to bypass 2FA checks.

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 · low confidence

The vulnerability stems from improper validation of session or authentication state transitions, allowing attackers to circumvent two-factor authentication mechanisms by manipulating or exploiting the lack of state checks during the authentication flow.

MitigationImplement comprehensive state validation throughout the authentication pipeline, ensuring that 2FA state transitions are properly validated and cannot be bypassed through race conditions, session tampering, or direct request manipulation.

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:>= 4.0.0, < 5.4.6>= 6.0.0, < 6.1.1

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
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 installed Joomla version
    Access the administrator dashboard and go to System > About Joomla, or check the libraries/cms.php file for the VERSION constant, or run: grep -r 'VERSION' /libraries/cms.php 2>/dev/null | head -5
    Affected if The version is >= 4.0.0 and < 5.4.6, or >= 6.0.0 and < 6.1.1
  2. Determine if 2FA is configured
    In the administrator panel, navigate to Users > Manage > [Select User] > Two-Factor Authentication tab, or query the database: SELECT * FROM #__extensions WHERE element='twofactorauth' AND enabled=1
    Affected if Two-factor authentication is enabled for any user account
  3. Verify 2FA plugin is enabled
    Go to System > Manage > Plugins and search for Two Factor Authentication, or query: SELECT * FROM #__extensions WHERE type='plugin' AND folder='authentication' AND element='twofactorauth' AND enabled=1
    Affected if The Two Factor Authentication plugin is published and enabled
  4. Inspect session handling configuration
    Check the session configuration in configuration.php for $session_handler and $force_ssl, or review System > Global Configuration > Session settings in the admin panel
    Affected if Session handler is set to 'none' or 'database' without proper SSL enforcement ($force_ssl is not set to 2)
  5. Review authentication workflow logs
    Check the #__logs table or any authentication audit logs for repeated login attempts with varying 2FA state, or examine the error logs in /logs for authentication-related entries around the time of login attempts
    Affected if Multiple authentication attempts show inconsistent 2FA state transitions or missing validation events

You are affected if your Joomla version falls within 4.0.0 to 5.4.5 or 6.0.0 to 6.1.0 AND you have Two-Factor Authentication enabled for any user account.

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 5.4.6 / 6.1.1 or later
Fixed in 5.4.66.1.1
Interim mitigation

Implement comprehensive state validation throughout the authentication pipeline, ensuring that 2FA state transitions are properly validated and cannot be bypassed through race conditions, session tampering, or direct request manipulation.

Recommended fix High confidence

Joomla 5.4.6 or Joomla 6.1.1 (depending on your current major version branch)

  1. Create a complete backup of your Joomla site (files and database) before proceeding with any updates
  2. Enable maintenance mode or take the site offline to prevent user access during the update
  3. Download and install Joomla version 5.4.6 (if on Joomla 5.x) or version 6.1.1 (if on Joomla 6.x) from the official Joomla download page
  4. After installation, verify the update was successful by checking the Joomla administrator dashboard for the correct version number
  5. Confirm that Two-Factor Authentication is properly configured and functioning in the authentication plugins
  6. Remove maintenance mode and restore the site to production
Caveat Review the Joomla release notes for 5.4.6 and 6.1.1 for any backward-incompatible changes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Joomla\! Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation10.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
23.0 hours of engineering $3,940
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,304.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-48896 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2026-48896 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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