VulnerabilityPublished 5 Jun 2025Updated 19 Jun 2025

CVE-2025-27445: rsjoomla.com RSFirewall component for Joomla · Path Traversal

Affects rsjoomla.com RSFirewall component for JoomlaSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.4 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.4Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 38% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 5 Jun 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
rsjoomla.com RSFirewall component for Joomla	Affected =2.9.7-3.1.5	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately audit their Joomla installations to identify if RSFirewall versions 2.9.7 through 3.1.5 are in use. Until an official patch is released, administrators should restrict access to authenticated users by enforcing strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the risk of account compromise. Implement strict user role management to limit the number of users with privileges sufficient to exploit this vulnerability. Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block directory traversal patterns in HTTP requests targeting RSFirewall endpoints. Regularly monitor logs for suspicious file access attempts or unusual user behavior. Organizations should subscribe to vendor advisories and Joomla security bulletins to apply patches promptly once available. Additionally, consider isolating Joomla instances in segmented network zones to limit lateral movement if an attacker gains access. Conduct security awareness training focused on credential security to prevent account takeover. Finally, perform regular backups and ensure they are securely stored to mitigate potential data loss from exploitation.

Description

A path traversal vulnerability in RSFirewall component 2.9.7 - 3.1.5 for Joomla was discovered. This vulnerability allows authenticated users to read arbitrary files outside the Joomla root directory. The flaw is caused by insufficient sanitization of user-supplied input in file path parameters, allowing attackers to exploit directory traversal sequences (e.g., ../) to access sensitive files

Impact

For European organizations using Joomla with the RSFirewall component, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive files such as configuration files, database credentials, or private keys, potentially facilitating further attacks like privilege escalation or data breaches. Since Joomla is popular among small to medium enterprises, government portals, and non-profits across Europe, the exposure could affect a broad range of sectors including public administration, education, and e-commerce. The requirement for authentication limits the attack surface but does not eliminate risk, especially if user accounts are compromised through phishing or weak credentials. The ability to read arbitrary files undermines confidentiality and integrity, potentially leading to data leakage and manipulation. This could result in regulatory non-compliance under GDPR if personal data is exposed, leading to legal and financial repercussions. Additionally, attackers could leverage the information gained to conduct more sophisticated attacks, increasing the overall threat to organizational security posture.

CWE-35Path Traversal: '.../...//' (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2021: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize '.../...//' (doubled triple dot slash) sequences that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

rsjoomla.com (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Jul 2025, 09:42 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-35

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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