Vulnerability report

Exploitation attempts observed Confirmed confidence Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2018-17254

JCK Editor SQL Injection

Arkextensions / JCK Editor

Watch CVE-2018-17254 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Observed in sensors
EPSS
83.0%
First observed
12 Jun 2026
Last observed
29 Oct 2026

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2018-17254 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Arkextensions JCK Editor. The JCK Editor component 6.4.4 for Joomla! allows SQL Injection via the jtreelink/dialogs/links.php parent parameter.

Have exploitation attempts been observed?

Yes. Previdian sensors have observed 27 exploitation attempts, 17 unique attacker IPs, and 12 countries targeting CVE-2018-17254. First observed Jun 12, 2026; last observed Oct 29, 2026. Also reported by third-party sources. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

Arkextensions / JCK Editor.

What should we do?

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

Overview

The JCK Editor component 6.4.4 for Joomla!

The JCK Editor component 6.4.4 for Joomla! allows SQL Injection via the jtreelink/dialogs/links.php parent parameter.

Published
20 Sep 2018
Attempts Observed Since
12 Jun 2026
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

joomla php nuclei_scanner

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Evidence of exploitation attempts

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

Exploitation attempts observed in the wild

Previdian sensor

Recorded 08 Sep 2026

Previdian sensors observed exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability before a third-party report.

Exploitation attempts observed

Previdian sensor

First observed 12 Jun 2026

Previdian sensors observed exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 29 Jan 2023

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
The Shadowserver First 2026-09-08 00:00 UTC
Previdian Sensors 2026-09-30 20:26 UTC

Operational indicators for this CVE are listed under Detection.

Sensor telemetry

Previdian Sensor Observations

Previdian sensor observations are exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability. They do not show that the target was vulnerable or that the attempt succeeded. The cards and chart show volume, unique attackers, and daily activity.

27

Attempts observed

17

Unique attacker IPs

12

Attacker countries

BG · CH · FI · FR · GB · HK · JP · NL · SC · TW · US · YE

17

Sensors observed

CVE-2018-17254 exploitation attempts over the last 80 days

Daily events observed by Previdian sensors

Updated 29 Oct 2026

0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
2
1
1
1
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
1
2
1
11 Aug 27 Aug 12 Sep 28 Sep 29 Oct

First observed 12 Jun 2026 · Last observed 29 Oct 2026

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

Start 14-day Pro trial

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

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

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
1
15
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

Previdian virtual patch guidance is available for this CVE.

AWS WAF Cloudflare ModSecurity

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

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2018/CVE-2018-17254.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Virtual Patch Detail

Compensating WAF rules for this CVE.

Available

Enterprise feature. Virtual patch rule content and deployable vendor exports (ModSecurity, Cloudflare, AWS WAF) are available to Previdian Enterprise users.

Talk to Sales Learn About Virtual Patches

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

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

EPSS

83.0%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') CWE-89

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

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

CVSS v2.0 7.5 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Potential Proof of Concepts

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

Joomla! JCK Editor SQL Injection

nuclei · Created Unknown

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation attempts

  1. 14:00 UTC

    Virtual patch available

    Compensating WAF rule available to block exploitation

  2. 00:00 UTC

    Added to Previdian KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party report of exploitation attempts

  3. 14:20 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  4. 00:32 UTC

    Indicators of compromise added (41)

    Indicators of compromise recorded

  5. 00:32 UTC

    Observed by Previdian sensors

    Previdian sensors observed exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability.

  6. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  7. 14:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  8. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

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.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs
  • 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/CVE-2018-17254

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2018-17254",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.82976,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": true
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 27, "sensors": 17 }
}