---
title: "CVE-2024-31996: XWiki Commons missing escaping of `{` in Velocity escapetool allows remote code execution"
url: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2024-31996/
description: "CVE-2024-31996 (org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity (Maven)): XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in version 3.0.1 and prior to…"
type: vulnerability-record
section: "Security Digest"
date_published: 2024-04-10
date_modified: 2025-01-09
publisher: erroneo.us
author: erroneo.us Security Desk
cve: "CVE-2024-31996"
kev: false
cvss: 10
epss: 0.02104
license: All rights reserved. Quote with attribution and a link.
---

# CVE-2024-31996: XWiki Commons missing escaping of `{` in Velocity escapetool allows remote code execution

**Signal:** Critical and remotely reachable. No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. (Computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS; not an editorial verdict.)

## Should you act?

- Not in CISA KEV , but CISA’s SSVC assessment records a public proof-of-concept, so attack code exists.
- EPSS 2.1% , percentile 82: FIRST’s model estimates a 2.1% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 82% of all scored CVEs (elevated). 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.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity (Maven) >= 3.0.1, < 14.10.19, fixed in 14.10.19 ; org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity (Maven) >= 15.0-rc-1, < 15.5.4, fixed in 15.5.4 ; org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity (Maven) >= 15.6-rc-1, < 15.9-rc-1, fixed in 15.9-rc-1 . Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

## What it is

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in version 3.0.1 and prior to versions 4.10.19, 15.5.4, and 15.10-rc-1, the HTML escaping of escaping tool that is used in XWiki doesn't escape {, which, when used in certain places, allows XWiki syntax injection and thereby remote code execution. The vulnerability has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.19, 15.5.5, and 15.9 RC1. Apart from upgrading, there is no generic workaround. However, replacing $escapetool.html by $escapetool.xml in XWiki documents fixes the vulnerability. In a standard XWiki installation, the maintainers are only aware of the document Panels.PanelLayoutUpdate that exposes this vulnerability, patching this document is thus a workaround. Any extension could expose this vulnerability and might thus require patching, too.

## Affected packages

- Maven `org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity` >= 3.0.1, < 14.10.19 → fixed: 14.10.19
- Maven `org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity` >= 15.0-rc-1, < 15.5.4 → fixed: 15.5.4
- Maven `org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity` >= 15.6-rc-1, < 15.9-rc-1 → fixed: 15.9-rc-1

## Affected products (CVE record)

- xwiki xwiki-commons: >= 3.0.1, < 14.10.19, >= 15.0-rc-1, < 15.5.4, >= 15.6-rc-1, < 15.9-rc-1

## Severity

- GitHub_M CVSS 3.1: 10 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`
- GitHub CVSS 3.1: 10.0 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`

## Exploitation

- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation poc , automatable yes , technical impact total .
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 2.10% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 82.

## Sources

- [GitHub Advisory GHSA-hf43-47q4-fhq5](https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-hf43-47q4-fhq5)
- [CVE.org record CVE-2024-31996](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-31996)
- [NVD entry CVE-2024-31996](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-31996)
- [github.com](https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/security/advisories/GHSA-hf43-47q4-fhq5)
- [github.com](https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/commit/b0805160ec7b01ee12417e79cb384e60ae4817aa)
- [github.com](https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/commit/b94142e2a66ec32e89eacab67c3da8d91f5ef93a)
- [github.com](https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/commit/ed7ff515a2436a1c6dcbd0c6ca0c41e434d58915)
- [jira.xwiki.org](https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XCOMMONS-2828)
- [jira.xwiki.org](https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-21438)

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Source page: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2024-31996/ · Security Digest: https://erroneo.us/security/ · More: https://erroneo.us/llms.txt