Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild High confidence Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2018-17254

JCK Editor SQL Injection

Arkextensions / JCK Editor

View live feed Monitor via API Watch CVE-2018-17254
Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
High
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
83.0%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

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.

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is high. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

Arkextensions / JCK Editor.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

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
Exploitation Reported
08 Sep 2026
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

joomla php nuclei_scanner

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

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

Exploited in the wild

The Shadowserver

Recorded 08 Sep 2026

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

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.

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Source Added
The Shadowserver First 2026-09-08 00:00 UTC

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
0
0
0

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

Virtual patch status

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

Learn about virtual patches →

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

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

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

EPSS

83.0%

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

  1. Added to Previdian KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation

  2. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  3. Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  4. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  5. 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.

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  • 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

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2018-17254",
  "confidence": "High",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.82976,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}