CVE-2026-49049
HIGHCVE-2026-49049 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-284 vulnerability. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
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.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-49049.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2026-49049 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Description
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.
Affected Products
helix3ollyoResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
VulnerabilityDetect
Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).
Remediation status
No fixed release is recorded for CVE-2026-49049 yet. Track the upstream advisory, and apply the exposure-reduction steps below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.
How to detect CVE-2026-49049
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2026-49049 -u https://target- Template
- JoomShaper Helix3 <=3.1.0 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary JSON File Write
- Severity
- high
- Impact
- Unauthenticated attackers can write arbitrary JSON content to server files, enabling template configuration manipulation, stored XSS via template parameters, and remote code execution via path traversal to place webshells or malicious configuration files in any web-accessible directory writable by the web server.
- Remediation
- Update JoomShaper Helix3 to version 3.1.1 or later, which adds proper authorization checks to the plg_ajax_helix3 AJAX handler. If the Helix3 template is unused, disable and remove the plg_ajax_helix3 system plugin via the Joomla administrator panel. As a WAF mitigation, block POST requests to index.php where the query string contains both option=com_ajax and plugin=helix3.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (DhiyaneshDk, pdteam), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-49049 in your dependencies?
Find it across , including transitive dependencies.