Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-29206

XSS in Xwiki 3.0 – 14.8

Public PoCXSS
Published
15 April 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0094 58th percentile
Risk Priority 70 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-29206 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 42% 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 Commons, the shared technical libraries used across multiple XWiki projects, contained an authorization flaw affecting JavaScript and StyleSheet XObjects stored in wiki documents. The code performed no verification of the object's author before execution, allowing any user granted only Edit rights to introduce executable content that would later run under the privileges of a user possessing Script rights. The issue is tracked as CWE-79 and received a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.0.

An attacker with Edit access on a document can therefore embed a malicious script or stylesheet. When a privileged user subsequently views or interacts with that document, the script executes in the privileged context, enabling actions such as data exfiltration, privilege escalation, or arbitrary content modification within the wiki.

The vulnerability was addressed in XWiki 14.9-rc-1 by adding an explicit author-rights check that prevents script execution unless the object's author itself holds Script rights. The fix is documented in the project's GitHub advisory GHSA-cmvg-w72j-7phx and the associated commits and Jira issues.

EPSS scores have remained low, reaching a peak of only 0.0653 before receding to the current value of 0.0442, indicating limited observed exploitation interest since disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. There was no check in the author of a JavaScript xobject or StyleSheet xobject added in a XWiki document, so until now it was possible for a…

more

user having only Edit Right to create such object and to craft a script allowing to perform some operations when executing by a user with appropriate rights. This has been patched in XWiki 14.9-rc-1 by only executing the script if the author of it has Script rights.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1185 Browser Session Hijacking Collection
Adversaries may take advantage of security vulnerabilities and inherent functionality in browser software to change content, modify user-behaviors, and intercept information as part of various browser session hijacking techniques.
T1539 Steal Web Session Cookie Credential Access
An adversary may steal web application or service session cookies and use them to gain access to web applications or Internet services as an authenticated user without needing credentials.
T1659 Content Injection Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access and continuously communicate with victims by injecting malicious content into systems through online network traffic.
T1189 Drive-by Compromise Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access to a system through a user visiting a website over the normal course of browsing.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-40176Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-35162Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-34464Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29201Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29202Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-26480Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29506Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29205Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-35155Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29515Same product: Xwiki Xwiki

Affected Assets

xwiki
xwiki
3.0 · 3.0 — 14.8

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.1.2
  • V1.3.2

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.

addresses: CWE-79

Penetration testing submits XSS payloads to web applications, detecting cross-site scripting flaws for subsequent remediation.

addresses: CWE-79

Validates web inputs to reject script-related content that could produce XSS.

addresses: CWE-79

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

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).

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

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.

finds

Secure-coding testing and automated code-analysis tools are applied to detect improper neutralization of script-related content during web-page generation.

prevents

Knowledge exchange on emerging attack techniques and patches reduces the likelihood that cross-site scripting flaws remain unaddressed in deployed applications.

prevents

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.

prevents

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.

prevents

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.

none

Webpage malware scanning and block-listing of known malicious sites reduce the likelihood that reflected or stored script payloads reach a user’s browser.

References