Simple Hack Threatens Joomla Sites - update NOW

If you run a site powered by the Joomla content management system and haven’t yet applied a critical update for this software released less than two weeks ago, please take a moment to do that: A trivial exploit could let users inject malicious content into your site, turning it into a phishing or malware trap for visitors.

The patch released on July 31, 2013 applies to Joomla2.5.13 and earlier 2.5.x versions, as well as Joomla3.1.4 and earlier 3.x versions. Joomla credits discovery of the bug to Web security firm Versafe, which says a simple exploit targeting the vulnerability is already in use. Joomla versions 2.5.14 and 3.1.5. fix a serious bug that allows unprivileged users to upload arbitrary .PHP files just by adding a “.” (period) to the end of PHP filenames.

For 2.5.x and 3.x versions of Joomla, it is possible for anyone with access to the media manager to upload and execute arbitrary code simply by appending a period to the end of the file name they would like to run. For sites powered by unsupported versions of Joomla (1.5.x, and a cursory Google search indicates that there are tens of thousands of these 1.5.x sites currently online), attackers do not even need to have an account on the Joomla server for this hack to work.

Simple Hack Threatens Outdated Joomla Sites

Joomla! on Google+

The official Joomla! Google Plus page. 

Joomla! is an open source content management system used to build websites, intranets, and other cool web products. 

Most importantly, Joomla! is a community made up of amazing volunteers from all corners of the world. 

Working together, they make the world a tad bit better!  The best part:  Joomla! is completely free!

 Joomla! on Google+

How to migrate Joomla 1.5 to 2.5 or 3.0

Support for Joomla 1.5 is officially about to end. Does that mean your 1.5 site will stop working? No, your site will continue to work as it always has. However, Joomla’s developers will not be releasing new versions for Joomla 1.5, so you won’t be getting bug fixes or security fixes. For this reason, it’s recommended to migrate from 1.5.

Moving from 2.5 to any Joomla 3 version is relatively simple, since Joomla has made the process easy for newer versions. Unfortunately, moving from 1.5 is not a trivial task. Fortunately, there are two good extensions that make the process easier: jUpgrade and SP Upgrade.

You have a choice of going straight to Joomla 3.0 or going to 2.5 first. Both SP Upgrade and jUpgrade have versions ready for both versions. Please consult with their documentation on how to migrate from Joomla 1.5 to 3.0/2.5.

Migrate to Joomla 3.0

Migrate to Joomla 3.0 if all the extensions that you plan to use are Joomla 3.0 compatible. Only some template providers or the extension vendors will be ready for Joomla 3.0 at launch, however most will not be ready until days, weeks or months after. (See the “How do I find Joomla 3.0 compatible extensions?” FAQ for more information)

Migrate to Joomla 2.5 if you want the most stable that Joomla has to offer and/or if you plan on using many extensions

How to migrate Joomla 1.5  to 2.5 or 3.0

Joomla 3.1 Beta now avaiable

The Joomla! Project is pleased to announce the availability of Joomla! CMS 3 Beta1. Community members are asked to download and install the package in order to provide quality assurance for Joomla 3.1. Joomla 3.1 is scheduled for release on or around March 25th, 2013.

Joomla 3 is the latest major release of the Joomla CMS, with Joomla 3.1 the second short term support release in this series.  Please note that going from Joomla 3.0 to 3.1 is a one-click upgrade and is NOT a migration.  The same is true is for any subsequent versions in the Joomla 3 series.  That being said, please do not upgrade any of your production sites to the beta version as beta is ONLY intended for testing.

Joomla 3.1 Beta1 Released

Joomla 3.1 Beta1 Released