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Fencer Intel
critical 9.1

CVE-2023-45135 json

XWiki users can be tricked to execute scripts as the create page action doesn't display the page's title

published 3y ago modified 4mo ago also GHSA-ghf6-2f42-mjh9 , EUVD-2023-2741

cvss
9.1
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
1.9%
EPSS 1.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 80%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. In `org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web` versions 7.2-milestone-2 until 14.10.12 and `org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates` prior to versions 14.10.12 and 15.5-rc-1, it is possible to pass a title to the page creation action that isn't displayed at first but then executed in the second step. This can be used by an attacker to trick a victim to execute code, allowing script execution if the victim has script right or remote code execution including full access to the XWiki instance if the victim has programming right.

For the attack to work, the attacker needs to convince the victim to visit a link like `<xwiki-host>/xwiki/bin/create/NonExistingSpace/WebHome?title=$services.logging.getLogger(%22foo%22).error(%22Script%20executed!%22)` where `<xwiki-host>` is the URL of the Wiki installation and to then click on the "Create" button on that page. The page looks like a regular XWiki page that the victim would also see when clicking the button to create a page that doesn't exist yet, the malicious code is not displayed anywhere on that page. After clicking the "Create" button, the malicious title would be displayed but at this point, the code has already been executed and the attacker could use this code also to hide the attack, e.g., by redirecting the victim again to the same page with an innocent title. It thus seems plausible that this attack could work if the attacker can place a fake "create page" button on a page which is possible with edit right.

This has been patched in `org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web` version 14.10.12 and `org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates` versions 14.10.12 and 15.5-rc-1 by displaying the title already in the first step such that the victim can notice the attack before continuing. It is possible to manually patch the modified files from the patch in an existing installation. For the JavaScript change, the minified JavaScript file would need to be obtained from a build of XWiki and replaced accordingly.

Patch / fix

  • maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates 14.10.12, 15.5-rc-1
  • maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web 14.10.12
  • xwiki xwiki-platform 14.10.12, 15.5-rc-1

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CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
2y ago

Exploit prediction

1.91% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 80% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-15).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/security/advisories/GHSA-ghf6-2f42-mjh9 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • jira.xwiki.org https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20869 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 9.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 3.1 8.0 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
GitHub 3.1 9.0 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates
<14.10.12
>=15.0-rc-1, <15.5-rc-1
14.10.12
15.5-rc-1
maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web
>=7.2-milestone-2, <14.10.12
14.10.12

Affected products

  • xwiki xwiki-platform

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-116 Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.