Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-29507

Xwiki 14.4.1 – 14.4.7

Published
16 April 2023
Modified
06 February 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0090 56th percentile
Risk Priority 67 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-29507 is a critical-severity Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs (CWE-648) vulnerability in Xwiki Xwiki. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548); ranked in the top 44% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

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, contains a vulnerability in the Document script API. The API directly exposes a DocumentAuthors object that permits arbitrary author assignments on a document; because author identity is subsequently used for rights checks, this can enable unauthorized script execution. The flaw is tracked as CVE-2023-29507 with a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.1 and affects versions prior to the listed fixes.

An authenticated user with administrative rights can exploit the issue remotely by setting a privileged author on a document, thereby causing later script invocations to run with elevated privileges and potentially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability across the XWiki instance.

The vulnerability was addressed in XWiki 14.10 and 14.4.7 by modifying the API to return a safe wrapper instead of the raw DocumentAuthors object. Corresponding commits and the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-pwfv-3cvg-9m4c document the change and recommend upgrading to a patched release.

The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0994 with no material upward trajectory after disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. The Document script API returns directly a DocumentAuthors allowing to set any authors to the document, which in consequence can allow subsequent executions of scripts since this…

more

author is used for checking rights. The problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10 and 14.4.7 by returning a safe script API.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
T1548.001 Setuid and Setgid Privilege Escalation
An adversary may abuse configurations where an application has the setuid or setgid bits set in order to get code running in a different (and possibly more privileged) user’s context.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-46978Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2025-49580Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2024-21648Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2025-49583Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-34465Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-26475Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2024-43401Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2024-31997Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2025-32974Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2026-33229Same product: Xwiki Xwiki

Affected Assets

xwiki
xwiki
14.10 · 14.4.1 — 14.4.7

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)
  • V3.5.2
  • V6.4.6

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 enforce correct usage of privileged APIs during development.

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

Security testing can detect incorrect privileged API calls but does not prevent them at design time.

degrades

Restricting privileged utility programs limits the exposure of privileged APIs to misuse.

degrades

Privileged access rights directly govern the correct use of privileged APIs and reduce misuse.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle includes API usage standards that can prevent incorrect privileged calls.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify correct invocation of privileged APIs.

prevents

Secure architecture principles guide proper privilege separation and API usage.

References