Vulnerability report

Active exploitation observed

GHSA-XR7R-292V-JXG8

Linked CVE: CVE-2026-49049

The Helix3 plugin for Joomla exposes an ajax handler task, that allows unauthenticated attackers...

1.0-3.1.1

Severity
CVSS 7.5 · High
Confidence
Exploit status
Observed in sensors
EPSS
17.7%
First observed
11 Aug 2026
Last observed
11 Aug 2026

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

GHSA-XR7R-292V-JXG8 is an unauthenticated vulnerability tracked by KEV Intelligence. The Helix3 plugin for Joomla exposes an ajax handler task, that allows unauthenticated attackers to delete arbitrary files, write...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence sensors observed exploitation attempts.

Who is affected?

Affected versions: 1.0-3.1.1.

What should we do?

Patch immediately, validate internet-facing exposure, and monitor for matching requests.

Overview

The Helix3 plugin for Joomla exposes an ajax handler task, that allows unauthenticated attackers...

The Helix3 plugin for Joomla exposes an ajax handler task, that allows unauthenticated attackers to delete arbitrary files, write arbitrary JSON files and update template parameters.

Vendor Product Affected Status
joomshaper.com Helix3 extension for Joomla 1.0-3.1.1 Affected
View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
29 Jun 2026
Exploitation Reported
11 Aug 2026
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this advisory as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

KEV Intelligence

Recorded 11 Aug 2026

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Active exploitation observed

KEV Intelligence sensor

First observed 11 Aug 2026

First-party sensor telemetry confirms matching exploitation attempts.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 04 Jul 2026

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Operational indicators for this CVE are listed under Detection.

Sensor telemetry

First-party evidence of exploitation activity

Aggregate observations show the scale, recency, and distribution of activity without overstating sparse data.

2

Attempts observed

1

Unique attacker IPs

1

Attacker countries

JP

1

Sensors observed

Exploitation attempts over the last 7 days

Daily events observed by KEV Intelligence sensors

Updated 11 Aug 2026

0
0
0
0
0
0
2
5 Aug 6 Aug 7 Aug 8 Aug 9 Aug 10 Aug 11 Aug

First observed 11 Aug 2026 · Last observed 11 Aug 2026

Pro adds sensor region and window summaries. Enterprise adds raw IPs, paths, User-Agents, and payloads.

Request telemetry access

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
1
User-Agents
1

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Scanner coverage

No scanner integrations recorded yet.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Attacker IP Indicators

Attacker IP indicators observed · available in Pro and Enterprise.

Sensor-derived attacker IP indicators are available to Pro and Enterprise accounts under Detection and through the Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

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

EPSS

17.7%

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Jenderal92/CVE-2026-49049

github · Created 2026-08-02 02:42:32 UTC · 0 stars

Mass vulnerability scanner for CVE-2026-49049 – Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution in Joomla Helix3 plugin. Multi‑threaded, detects both executed and raw PHP payloads.

ExDev994/CVE-2026-49049

github · Created 2026-07-13 19:38:34 UTC · 0 stars

CVE-2026-49049 Helix3 (JoomShaper) Joomla Unauthenticated AJAX RCE Scanner

Dr-D25/CVE-2026-49049

github · Created 2026-07-10 08:26:45 UTC · 0 stars

shinthink/CVE-2026-49049

github · Created 2026-07-04 16:28:06 UTC · 0 stars

Read-only vulnerability scanner for CVE-2026-49049 — Helix3 Joomla plugin unauthenticated AJAX handler

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Observed by KEV Intelligence sensors

    Evidence-backed exploitation signal

  2. Indicator of compromise added

    Indicators of compromise recorded

  3. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  4. GitHub Advisory published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/GHSA-XR7R-292V-JXG8

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields
{
  "ghsa_id": "GHSA-XR7R-292V-JXG8",
  "confidence": null,
  "cvss_score": 7.5,
  "epss_score": 0.17701,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": true
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 2, "sensors": 1 }
}

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