Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-29511

RCE in Xwiki 1.7 – 13.10.11

Public PoCRCE
Published
16 April 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L
EPSS Score 0.010 60th percentile
Risk Priority 70 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-29511 is a critical-severity Eval Injection (CWE-95) vulnerability in Xwiki Xwiki. Its CVSS base score is 9.9 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 40% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

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, a generic wiki platform, contains an improper input sanitization flaw in the default-installed XWiki.AdminFieldsDisplaySheet component. The issue stems from inadequate escaping of section identifiers, which permits any user possessing edit rights on a page to inject and execute arbitrary Groovy, Python, or Velocity code, resulting in complete control over the XWiki installation. The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2023-29511 with a CVSS score of 9.9 and is associated with CWE-95.

An authenticated attacker with page edit permissions, such as on their own user page, can exploit the flaw to run server-side scripts that bypass intended access controls and achieve full system compromise, including data exfiltration or modification. No special user interaction or advanced network positioning is required beyond standard edit access.

Official advisories and patches recommend upgrading to XWiki versions 15.0-rc-1, 14.10.1, 14.4.8, or 13.10.11, where the escaping logic in AdminFieldsDisplaySheet has been corrected; the fixes are detailed in the referenced GitHub commits and security advisory GHSA-rfh6-mg6h-h668. The EPSS score has remained flat at its peak value of 0.2925 with no material increase observed after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. Any user with edit rights on a page (e.g., it's own user page), can execute arbitrary Groovy, Python or Velocity code in XWiki…

more

leading to full access to the XWiki installation. The root cause is improper escaping of the section ids in `XWiki.AdminFieldsDisplaySheet`. This page is installed by default. The vulnerability has been patched in XWiki versions 15.0-rc-1, 14.10.1, 14.4.8, and 13.10.11.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1059.006 Python Executionconfidence: HIGH
The flaw allows injection and execution of arbitrary Groovy, Python, or Velocity server-side code via improper input sanitization.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: HIGH
Authenticated users with only edit rights can escalate to full system compromise by executing code that bypasses access controls.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: MEDIUM
The vulnerable component is a default-installed web page that processes user input, enabling remote code execution over the web interface.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-46731Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29209Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-37462Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-50723Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2024-31982Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29214Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-30537Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29509Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-50721Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2024-31996Same product: Xwiki Xwiki

Affected Assets

xwiki
xwiki
14.0 · 1.7 — 13.10.11 · 14.0 — 14.4.8 · 14.5 — 14.10.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires validation and sanitization of untrusted input (section IDs) to block injection of Groovy/Python/Velocity code.

prevent

Mandates prompt application of vendor patches that correct the missing escaping logic in AdminFieldsDisplaySheet.

prevent

Enforces that page-edit rights must not implicitly grant arbitrary server-side code execution privileges.

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 require input neutralization and avoidance of unsafe dynamic evaluation.

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.

detects

Security testing in development can detect eval injection vulnerabilities before deployment.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and safe coding practices that directly prevent eval injection.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules against dynamic code execution of untrusted input.

prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe dynamic evaluation constructs.

prevents

Secure coding explicitly requires neutralization of input before dynamic evaluation, directly mitigating eval injection.

none

Separation of environments limits the blast radius if eval injection occurs in non-production.

References