CVE-2026-23898

Received Received - Intake

Arbitrary File Deletion in Joomla Autoupdate Server Mechanism

Publication date: 2026-04-01

Last updated on: 2026-04-09

Assigner: Joomla! Project

Description

Lack of input validation leads to an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability in the autoupdate server mechanism.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
Percentile:

Meta Information

Published

2026-04-01

Last Modified

2026-04-09

Generated

2026-07-06

AI Q&A

2026-04-01

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-05

NVD

CVE-2026-23898

EUVD

EUVD-2026-17861

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
joomla	joomla!	From 3.0.0 (inc) to 5.4.4 (exc)
joomla	joomla!	From 6.0.0 (inc) to 6.0.4 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-73	The product allows user input to control or influence paths or file names that are used in filesystem operations.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-23898 is a high-severity vulnerability in Joomla! CMS versions 4.0.0 through 5.4.3 and 6.0.0 through 6.0.3. It is caused by a lack of input validation in the autoupdate server mechanism within the com_joomlaupdate component. This flaw allows an attacker to delete arbitrary files on the affected system.

Impact Analysis

The vulnerability can have a high impact because it allows an attacker to delete critical files on the system. Although the probability of exploitation is considered low, successful exploitation could lead to system instability, loss of important data, or disruption of services running on the Joomla! CMS.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate the arbitrary file deletion vulnerability in Joomla! CMS, users should upgrade their Joomla! installations to versions 5.4.4 or 6.0.4 or later.

This vulnerability affects Joomla! CMS versions 4.0.0 through 5.4.3 and 6.0.0 through 6.0.3, and the fix was released by March 31, 2026.

For further information or assistance, users can contact the Joomla! Security Centre or the Joomla! Security Strike Team (JSST).

Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify how the arbitrary file deletion vulnerability in Joomla! CMS affects compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

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