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Medium

Contao: Protected page content disclosed to anonymous visitors after disabling index_protected

  • Disclosed: 09.10.2026
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 10:30

ModuleSearch determines whether to filter protected pages out of search results based on the current value of contao.search.index_protected, but the authorization data is stored per row in tl_search.

Disabling the setting removes the filter without clearing the indexed rows. Consequently, protected pages indexed while the setting was enabled are returned to unauthenticated visitors (including title, URL, and context snippet), even though accessing the pages directly still returns 401.

Impact

Titles, URLs, and indexed snippets of member-only pages are exposed to unauthenticated visitors through the website search. The pages themselves retain their access controls, so this does not bypass direct page access restrictions.

Credits

This security vulnerability was discovered by @iRevivalx.

What to do

Upgrade contao/core-bundle to version 5.3.50, 5.7.12, or later.

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Composer package contao/core-bundle >= 4.0.0, < 5.3.50, >= 5.4.0-RC1, < 5.7.12 5.3.50, 5.7.12

References

CVSS score 5.3/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-200
Platform
Composer
Package
contao/core-bundle
Disclosed
09.10.2026
Updated
11.10.2026 10:30

Sources and licenses · Edited or translated by DockRay; source rights and applicable licenses are retained.

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-x2rp-9qf7-2fmq - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: contao/core-bundle

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Composer package), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (40) in the archive
Total entries
40
First → latest
12.2019 10.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 4
  • High 7
  • Medium 23
  • Low 6

Disclosures per year

Severity:
  1. Contao: Protected page content disclosed to anonymous visitors after disabling index_protected this entry
    Medium · 5.3 CVE-2026-107842 >= 4.0.0, < 5.3.50, >= 5.4.0-RC1, < 5.7.12 5.3.50, 5.7.12
  2. Contao affected by remote command execution through file upload
    High · 8.3 CVE-2024-45398 >= 4.0.0, < 4.13.49, >= 5.0.0, < 5.3.15, >= 5.4.0, < 5.4.3 4.13.49, 5.3.15, 5.4.3
  3. Contao: Possible cookie sharing with external domains while checking protected pages for broken links
    High · 8.3 CVE-2024-28235 >= 4.9.0, < 4.13.40, >= 5.0.0-RC1, < 5.3.4 4.13.40, 5.3.4
  4. Contao SQL injection in the file manager
    Critical · 9.8 CVE-2019-11512 >= 4.1.0, < 4.4.39, >= 4.5.0, < 4.7.5 4.4.39, 4.7.5
  5. Contao SQL injection in the backend and listing module
    Critical · 9.8 CVE-2017-16558 >= 4.0.0, < 4.4.8, >= 3.0.0, <= 3.5.30 4.4.8
  6. Cross site scripting via canonical tag in Contao
    High · 7.2 CVE-2022-24899 >= 4.13.0, < 4.13.3 4.13.3
  7. Contao CSRF Token Bypass
    High · 8.8 CVE-2019-10642 >= 4.7.0, < 4.7.3 4.7.3
  8. Contao Does Not Invalidate Existing Sessions When Password Changes
    Critical · 9.8 CVE-2019-10641 >= 4.0.0, < 4.4.37, >= 4.5.0, < 4.7.3 4.4.37, 4.7.3
  9. Contao Core directory traversal vulnerability
    High · 8.8 CVE-2017-10993 >= 4.0.0, < 4.4.1 4.4.1
  10. Contao Does Not Expire Tokens Correctly
    Critical · 9.8 CVE-2019-10643 >= 4.7.0, < 4.7.3 4.7.3
  11. Privilege escalation via form generator
    High · 8.0 CVE-2021-37627 >= 4.0.0, < 4.4.56, >= 4.5.0, < 4.9.18, >= 4.10.0, < 4.11.7 4.4.56, 4.9.18, 4.11.7
  12. Unrestricted file uploads in Contao
    High · 8.8 CVE-2019-19745 >= 4.0.0, < 4.4.46, >= 4.5.0, < 4.8.6 4.4.46, 4.8.6

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