Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-23898 is a high-severity External Control of File Name or Path (CWE-73) vulnerability in Joomla Joomla\!. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked at the 39th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-23898 is an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability stemming from a lack of input validation in the autoupdate server mechanism of Joomla CMS, specifically within the com_joomlaupdate core component. Published on 2026-04-01, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.2 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and maps to CWE-73 (External Control of File Name or Path).
The vulnerability is exploitable over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L) by authenticated users possessing high privileges (PR:H), without requiring user interaction (UI:N) and with an unchanged scope (S:U). Attackers can achieve arbitrary file deletion, resulting in high impacts to confidentiality (C:H), integrity (I:H), and availability (A:H).
The official Joomla security advisory at https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/1031-20260305-core-arbitrary-file-deletion-in-com-joomlaupdate.html details mitigation steps for this issue.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-17861
Vulnerability Data
Lack of input validation leads to an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability in the autoupdate server mechanism.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Input validation directly rejects or sanitizes untrusted path strings before they reach filesystem operations.
Enforces authorization checks on the actual resource accessed, blocking unauthorized files even when a malicious path is supplied.
Least-privilege limits the set of files or directories any subject can affect, shrinking the blast radius of a path-control flaw.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly prevent external file/path manipulation.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against untrusted input influencing file operations.
Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe path construction but do not prescribe concrete file-name controls.
Secure coding standards require canonicalization, allow-listing, and bounds checks on file paths, directly eliminating CWE-73.
Security testing can detect path-traversal issues but does not itself implement preventive controls.
Information access restriction limits which files can be reached, indirectly reducing impact of path manipulation.