CVE-2024-21650: XWiki Remote Code Execution Vulnerability via User Registration

Should you act?

High exploit likelihood

EPSS ranks it in the top 5% of all CVEs for likely exploitation in the next 30 days. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• Not in CISA KEV, but CISA’s SSVC assessment records a public proof-of-concept, so attack code exists.
• EPSS 93.5%, percentile 99.8: FIRST’s model estimates a 93.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 99.8% of all scored CVEs (very high). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-ui (Maven) >= 2.2, < 14.10.17, fixed in 14.10.17; org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-ui (Maven) >= 15.0-rc-1, < 15.5.3, fixed in 15.5.3; org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-ui (Maven) >= 15.6-rc-1, < 15.8-rc-1, fixed in 15.8-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. XWiki is vulnerable to a remote code execution (RCE) attack through its user registration feature. This issue allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code by crafting malicious payloads in the "first name" or "last name" fields during user registration. This impacts all installations that have user registration enabled for guests. This vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 14.10.17, 15.5.3 and 15.8 RC1.

From the GitHub advisory

Impact XWiki is vulnerable to a remote code execution (RCE) attack through its user registration feature. This issue allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code by crafting malicious payloads in the "first name" or "last name" fields during user registration. This impacts all installations that have user registration enabled for guests.

To reproduce, register with any username and password and the following payload as "first name": ]]{{/html}}{{async}}{{groovy}}services.logging.getLogger("attacker").error("Attack succeeded){{/groovy}}{{/async}}. In the following page that confirms the success of the registration, the full first name should be displayed, linking to the created user. If the formatting is broken and a log message with content "ERROR attacker - Attack succeeded!" is logged, the attack succeeded.

Patches This vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 14.10.17, 15.5.3 and 15.8 RC1.

Workarounds

In the administration of your wiki, under "Users & Rights" > "Registration" set the "Registration Successful Message" to the following code:

Weakness type: CWE-95, CWE-94.

Product: org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-ui (Maven) · Assigned by: GitHub_M · Published: 2024-01-08

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Privileges required: none (no login)
• User interaction: none
• 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 poc, automatable no, technical impact total.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 93.48% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 99.8.

Timeline

• 2024-01-08 — CVE record published by GitHub_M
• 2024-01-08 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-rj7p-xjv7-7229 published (critical)
• 2025-06-17 — 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-rj7p-xjv7-7229 github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2024-21650 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2024-21650 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
4. github.com github.com
5. github.com github.com

Critical Maven advisories · Today’s Security Digest