CVE-2023-26475
Xwiki 2.3 – 13.10.11
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-26475 is a critical-severity Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269) vulnerability in Xwiki Xwiki. Its CVSS base score is 9.9 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 0.8% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
XWiki Platform contains an improper access control vulnerability in its annotation displayer component. Affected versions beginning with 2.3-milestone-1 fail to render annotation content inside a restricted execution context, enabling script or macro execution under the privileges of the document author rather than the current user. The issue is tracked under CWE-269 and CWE-270 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.9.
An authenticated attacker with permission to add annotations to any page can therefore invoke arbitrary code or actions using the author’s rights, resulting in full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact across the wiki instance because of the changed scope. Exploitation requires only low attack complexity and no user interaction beyond the ability to annotate.
Official advisories and the linked GitHub security advisory direct administrators to upgrade to the patched releases XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7, or 14.10; the corresponding commits that enforce restricted rendering are referenced in the XWiki Jira tickets and repository. No simpler workaround is provided.
The associated EPSS score has remained in the moderate range with a peak of 0.38 and current value of 0.35.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-1025
Vulnerability Data
XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in version 2.3-milestone-1, the annotation displayer does not execute the content in a restricted context. This allows executing anything with the right of the author of any document by annotating the document.…
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This has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10. There is no easy workaround except to upgrade.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
V13.2.2
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Policy addresses roles, responsibilities, and privilege management to prevent improper privilege assignments.
Access supervision ensures privileges are assigned and managed without improper escalation or retention.
Assigning group/role memberships and access authorizations (privileges) while reviewing accounts addresses improper privilege management.
Enforces proper privilege management by requiring all decisions through the verified reference monitor.
By mandating division of duties across roles, the control enforces proper privilege management and prevents a single entity from controlling an entire sensitive process.
Implements core proper privilege management by restricting to only required rights.
Policy requires training on privilege management and least privilege, making it harder to exploit improper privilege management weaknesses.
Training covers proper privilege management practices, making incorrect privilege assignments less likely.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Enforcing least-privilege authorization policies and reviews directly prevents improper privilege changes across contexts.
Integrating secure-development practices catches and eliminates context-switching privilege errors during design and coding.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
A.5.15 directly mandates determining access requirements, defining/enforcing topic-specific access control policy, assigning rights/restrictions by entity/role, consistency with classification, need-to-know, privileged access restrictions, segregation, formal authorization, and dynamic rules — which stops most improper privilege management from being exploitable; bounded remainder is flawed implementation of those rules (e.g. incorrect mapping or enforcement bugs).
A.5.18 directly governs the provisioning, review, modification and timely revocation of access rights (including for role changes, termination and privilege levels), which stops most improper privilege spheres from being exploitable even if the assignment flaw exists; the bounded remainder is flaws in the underlying enforcement mechanism itself (e.g. AC-3/A.8.3)
Defining and communicating authorization levels for each role limits the assignment of excessive or unnecessary privileges.
Logging every use of privileges and protecting those records makes it harder for an attacker who has obtained elevated rights to operate without leaving evidence.
Restricting privileged utilities reduces exposure to context-switch privilege errors.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Ubuntu 22.04 (1 rule)
- V-260470 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, when booted, must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. blocks CWE-270