CVE-2023-45137: XWiki Platform vulnerable to XSS with edit right in the create document form for existing pages

Should you act?

Critical, preconditions apply

Severe if exploited, but exploitation needs conditions that may not apply to you. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
• EPSS 0.6%, percentile 49: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 49% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Needs an account (low (any account)). Exposure depends on who can log in.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates (Maven) < 14.10.12, fixed in 14.10.12; org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates (Maven) >= 15.0-rc-1, < 15.5-rc-1, fixed in 15.5-rc-1; org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web (Maven) >= 3.1-milestone-2, < 13.4-rc-1, fixed in 13.4-rc-1. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web starting in version 3.1-milestone-2 and prior to version 13.4-rc-1, as well as org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates prior to versions 14.10.12 and 15.5-rc-1, are vulnerable to cross-site scripting. When trying to create a document that already exists, XWiki displays an error message in the form for creating it. Due to missing escaping, this error message is vulnerable to raw HTML injection and thus XSS. The injected code is the document reference of the existing document so this requires that the attacker first creates a non-empty document whose name contains the attack code. This has been patched in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web version 13.4-rc-1 and org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates versions 14.10.12 and 15.5-rc-1 by adding the appropriate escaping. The vulnerable template file createinline.vm is part of XWiki's WAR and can be patched by manually applying the changes from the fix.

From the GitHub advisory

Impact When trying to create a document that already exists, XWiki displays an error message in the form for creating it. Due to missing escaping, this error message is vulnerable to raw HTML injection and thus XSS. The injected code is the document reference of the existing document so this requires that the attacker first creates a non-empty document whose name contains the attack code.

To reproduce, the following steps can be used:

1. Go to /xwiki/bin/create/Main/WebHome?parent=&templateprovider=&spaceReference=&name=%3Cimg%20onerror=%22alert(1)%22%20src=%22test%22 where is the URL of your XWiki installation. 2. Create the page and add some content. 3. Go again to /xwiki/bin/create/Main/WebHome?parent=&templateprovider=&spaceReference=&name=%3Cimg%20onerror=%22alert(1)%22%20src=%22test%22 where is the URL of your XWiki installation.

If an alert with content "1" is displayed, the installation is vulnerable. This allows an attacker to execute arbitrary actions with the rights of the user opening the malicious link. Depending on the rights of the user, this may allow remote code execution and full read and write access to the whole XWiki installation.

Patches This has been patched in XWiki 14.10.12 and 15.5RC1 by adding the appropriate escaping.

Weakness type: CWE-79.

Product: org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates (Maven) · Assigned by: GitHub_M · Published: 2023-10-25

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Privileges required: low (any account)
• User interaction: required (a user must click/open something)
• Scope: changed (can affect other components)

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

• CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
• CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, automatable no, technical impact total.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.62% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 49.

Timeline

• 2023-10-25 — CVE record published by GitHub_M
• 2023-10-25 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-93gh-jgjj-r929 published (critical)
• 2024-09-10 — CVE record last updated

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Vulnerability records

1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-93gh-jgjj-r929 github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2023-45137 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2023-45137 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. github.com github.com
2. github.com github.com
3. jira.xwiki.org jira.xwiki.org

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