Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-29201 is a critical-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Xwiki Xwiki. Its CVSS base score is 9.0 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Browser Session Hijacking (T1185); ranked in the top 36% 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.
The vulnerability is an incomplete input sanitization flaw in the restricted mode of the HTML cleaner component within XWiki Commons, the shared technical libraries used by multiple XWiki projects. Introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1, this mode only escaped script and style tags while permitting script-injecting attributes and other dangerous elements such as iframe, enabling cross-site scripting when the cleaner is relied upon for security.
An attacker can supply malicious HTML through user-controlled content such as comments. When a privileged user possessing programming rights subsequently views the content, the injected JavaScript executes in that user's session context, resulting in server-side code execution with full programming rights and consequent loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability for the XWiki instance. The attack requires the victim to visit the crafted content and therefore combines low-privileged input with a targeted interaction by a high-privileged account.
Advisories and patches indicate the issue was resolved in XWiki 14.6 RC1 by replacing the prior escaping logic with an explicit allow-list filter that restricts permitted HTML elements and attributes when restricted mode is active. The referenced commits and security advisory GHSA-m3jr-cvhj-f35j document the filter implementation, and the XWiki Jira entries XCOMMONS-1680 and XCOMMONS-2426 track the underlying design change; no workarounds other than upgrading are stated.
EPSS remains flat at a peak and current value of 0.0935 with no material upward trajectory after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-1348
Vulnerability Data
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. The "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1, only escaped `<script>` and `<style>`-tags but neither attributes that can be used to inject…
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scripts nor other dangerous HTML tags like `<iframe>`. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). When a privileged user with programming rights visits such a comment in XWiki, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. This allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance. This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.6 RC1 with the introduction of a filter with allowed HTML elements and attributes that is enabled in restricted mode. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.1.2V1.3.2
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.
Penetration testing submits XSS payloads to web applications, detecting cross-site scripting flaws for subsequent remediation.
Validates web inputs to reject script-related content that could produce XSS.
Output validation against expected content can reject or sanitize script content in generated web pages, reducing XSS exploitability.
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly target introduction of XSS via coding standards/testing (mostly), yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors unaddressed (partial).
Patching and EOL replacement can remediate known XSS instances in libraries or frameworks (partial) but do nothing to enforce input neutralization in application code (none).
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.
Secure-coding testing and automated code-analysis tools are applied to detect improper neutralization of script-related content during web-page generation.
Knowledge exchange on emerging attack techniques and patches reduces the likelihood that cross-site scripting flaws remain unaddressed in deployed applications.
Operational indicators of compromise for web-application attacks can be incorporated into WAF or input-filtering rules, lowering the likelihood that unsanitized data reaches the browser.
Requiring language-specific secure-coding standards and automated scanning during the SDLC catches missing output encoding or improper neutralization of untrusted data before the software reaches production.
Secure-coding standards, SAST scans and removal of insecure code samples together eliminate the failure to neutralize script content that produces cross-site scripting flaws.
Webpage malware scanning and block-listing of known malicious sites reduce the likelihood that reflected or stored script payloads reach a user’s browser.