Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-23898

High

Published: 01 April 2026

Published
01 April 2026
Modified
09 April 2026
KEV Added
—
Patch
—
CVSS Score v4 8.6 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:X
EPSS Score 0.0045 36.1th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

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 File Deletion (T1070.004); ranked at the 36.1th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-9 (Information Input Restrictions).

Deeper analysis

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)

A06:2025 Insecure Design

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

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

CWE(s)
CWE-73

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1070.004 File Deletion Stealth
Adversaries may delete files left behind by the actions of their intrusion activity.
attack.mitre.org →
T1485 Data Destruction Impact
Adversaries may destroy data and files on specific systems or in large numbers on a network to interrupt availability to systems, services, and network resources.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Arbitrary file deletion directly enables indicator removal via file deletion and data destruction on the affected system.

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-21629Same product: Joomla Joomla\!
CVE-2026-35221Same product: Joomla Joomla\!
CVE-2024-40749Same product: Joomla Joomla\!
CVE-2026-48904Same product: Joomla Joomla\!
CVE-2026-21630Same product: Joomla Joomla\!
CVE-2024-40748Same product: Joomla Joomla\!
CVE-2026-23899Same product: Joomla Joomla\!
CVE-2026-35222Same product: Joomla Joomla\!
CVE-2026-48898Same product: Joomla Joomla\!
CVE-2026-48899Same product: Joomla Joomla\!

Affected Assets

joomla
joomla\!
3.0.0 — 5.4.4 · 6.0.0 — 6.0.4

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Directly addresses the lack of input validation in the autoupdate server mechanism that enables arbitrary file deletion via external control of file paths.

SI-9 Information Input Restrictions good match
prevent

Enforces restrictions on information inputs to the com_joomlaupdate component, preventing malicious file paths from being processed.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match
prevent

Limits privileges required for autoupdate operations, reducing the attack surface for high-privilege (PR:H) users exploiting the vulnerability.

References