CVE-2019-25756: Joomla vAccount 2.0.2 SQL Injection Vulnerability Analysis

Technical summary

CVE-2019-25756 is an unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) in vAccount 2.0.2. The vaccount-dashboard/expense endpoint fails to sanitize the vid parameter before passing it to SQL queries. An attacker can submit GET requests with malicious SQL payloads in vid to execute arbitrary queries against the backend database. The CVSS 3.1 score of 8.2 (HIGH) reflects high confidentiality impact, low integrity impact, and no availability impact: attackers can read sensitive data but have limited ability to modify or destroy it.

Business impact

Successful exploitation allows threat actors to extract sensitive database information—including database schema, configuration data, and potentially customer or operational information stored in the Joomla! instance. This confidentiality breach can lead to regulatory compliance violations (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS), reputational damage, and provide attackers reconnaissance data for follow-on attacks. Organizations running vAccount 2.0.2 should treat this as a high-priority exposure.

Affected systems

The vulnerability affects Joomla! Component vAccount version 2.0.2. No patch version information is provided in the available source data. Organizations should verify their vAccount installation version and consult the vendor advisory for confirmation of affected and patched versions.

Exploitability

Exploitability is high. The vulnerability requires no authentication, no user interaction, and no complex attack setup—only network access to the Joomla! instance. An attacker can craft and execute SQL injection payloads through simple GET requests, making automated scanning and exploitation trivial. Public disclosure will likely drive rapid weaponization.

Remediation

Immediately upgrade vAccount to a patched version. Verify the current version of vAccount installed and consult the vendor advisory for available security patches. If an immediate patch is unavailable, implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block requests containing SQL injection patterns in the vid parameter, restrict network access to the vaccount-dashboard/expense endpoint, and monitor database query logs for suspicious activity.

Patch guidance

Contact the vAccount vendor or consult their security advisory for the specific patched version. Apply the update as soon as it becomes available. Test the patch in a staging environment before production deployment to ensure compatibility with your Joomla! configuration. After patching, verify that the vaccount-dashboard/expense endpoint no longer accepts SQL injection payloads.

Detection guidance

Monitor web server and application logs for GET requests to vaccount-dashboard/expense containing SQL keywords (SELECT, UNION, INSERT, DROP, etc.) or SQL comment sequences (--,/*,*/,;) in the vid parameter. Deploy WAF rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns. Query database logs for unusual queries or access patterns originating from the web application user account. Use intrusion detection systems (IDS) to flag suspicious SQL injection attempts.

Why prioritize this

This vulnerability merits immediate prioritization due to the combination of high CVSS score (8.2), unauthenticated access, trivial exploitability, and significant confidentiality impact. Threat actors can easily discover and exploit this flaw to extract sensitive data without authentication or user interaction. Public disclosure increases likelihood of rapid exploitation in the wild.

Risk score, explained

The CVSS 3.1 score of 8.2 (HIGH) reflects: Network-based attack vector (AV:N) requiring no special network access; low attack complexity (AC:L) with no special conditions; no privilege requirements (PR:N) and no user interaction (UI:N); unchanged scope (S:U); high confidentiality impact (C:H) allowing complete information disclosure; low integrity impact (I:L) limiting data modification capabilities; and no availability impact (A:N). The score appropriately captures the severity of unauthenticated data exfiltration while recognizing the absence of system disruption capability.

Frequently asked questions