# CVE-2009-3945: Missing authorization in n/a

> Authenticated authors can modify arbitrary user articles in Joomla due to missing authorization checks in the Front-End Editor.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Nov 2009
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w7r2-35m5-84qx

## What is CVE-2009-3945?

CVE-2009-3945 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Joomla Joomla\!, published on 16 Nov 2009. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Unspecified vulnerability in the Front-End Editor in the com_content component in Joomla! before 1.5.15 allows remote authenticated users, with Author privileges, to replace the articles of an arbitrary user via unknown vectors.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-3945?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Joomla Joomla\!.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-3945?

No fix has been published for CVE-2009-3945 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2009-3945 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2009-3945 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Joomla Joomla\!

- [CVE-2016-10033](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-10033/): PHPMailer Command Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-23752](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-23752/): Joomla! Improper Access Control (medium 5.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-48902](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-48902/): Joomla! Core - [20260518] - Transport encryption downgrade for password and username reset links (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-25226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-25226/): [20250401] - Joomla Framework - SQL injection vulnerability in quoteNameStr method of Database package (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-23795](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23795/): [20220303] - Core - User row are not bound to a authentication mechanism (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-3945 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-3945 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Joomla Joomla\!, published on 16 Nov 2009. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2009-3945 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Joomla Joomla\!. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3945/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3945/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-3945
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-3945
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-3945

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3945/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.