CVE-2013-3242 Deserialization in n/a
Authenticated users can trigger PHP object injection via cookies in the Joomla remember plugin, causing denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2013-3242?
CVE-2013-3242 is a medium-severity unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Joomla Joomla\!, published on 3 May 2013. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
plugins/system/remember/remember.php in Joomla! 2.5.x before 2.5.10 and 3.0.x before 3.0.4 does not properly handle an object obtained by unserializing a cookie, which allows remote authenticated users to conduct PHP object injection attacks and cause a denial of service via unspecified vectors.
Weakness: CWE-20
Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-3242?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Joomla Joomla\!.
How do I fix CVE-2013-3242?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Upgrade, and only deserialise data from trusted sources or with an allow-list of types. More about Unsafe deserialization.
Is CVE-2013-3242 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2013-3242 exists.
Public exploit code: 1 Exploit-DB entry.
Other vulnerabilities in Joomla Joomla\!
- CVE-2016-10033 PHPMailer Command Injection
- CVE-2023-23752 Joomla! Improper Access Control
- CVE-2026-48902 Joomla! Core - [20260518] - Transport encryption downgrade for password and username reset links
- CVE-2025-25226 [20250401] - Joomla Framework - SQL injection vulnerability in quoteNameStr method of Database package
- CVE-2022-23795 [20220303] - Core - User row are not bound to a authentication mechanism
Sources
Also known as GHSA-pwhw-p972-gp85.