Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-32070

XSS in Xwiki Rendering 3.0

XSS
Published
10 May 2023
Modified
27 January 2025
Patch / advisory
View 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 0.0065 48th percentile
Risk Priority 76 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-32070 is a critical-severity Improper Neutralization of Script in Attributes in a Web Page (CWE-83) vulnerability in Xwiki Rendering. Its CVSS base score is 9.0 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Browser Session Hijacking (T1185); ranked at the 48th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); 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 Platform's HTML rendering component, prior to version 14.6-rc-1, failed to validate dangerous attributes and attribute values in rendered content. This flaw permitted cross-site scripting attacks through attributes and link URLs supplied in XWiki syntax, as documented under CWE-79 and CWE-83.

An authenticated user with low privileges could supply crafted markup that executes arbitrary script in the browser context of other users who view the affected page. The CVSS 9.0 rating reflects network attack vector, low complexity, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability within the affected wiki instance.

Advisories and patches direct administrators to upgrade to XWiki 14.6-rc-1 or later; the referenced commits in the xwiki-rendering repository implement attribute filtering, and the GitHub Security Advisory states there are no workarounds short of applying the fixed release.

EPSS remains at 0.2190 with no material increase after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Prior to version 14.6-rc-1, HTML rendering didn't check for dangerous attributes/attribute values. This allowed cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks via attributes and link URLs, e.g., supported in XWiki syntax. This has been patched in…

more

XWiki 14.6-rc-1. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a fixed version.

CWE(s)
CWE-83CWE-79

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.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1659 Content Injection Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access and continuously communicate with victims by injecting malicious content into systems through online network traffic.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
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
rendering
3.0
xwiki
xwiki
≤ 14.5

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
  • V1.3.4

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.

CA-8 Penetration Testing
addresses: CWE-79

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

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-79

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

SI-15 Information Output Filtering
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 require output encoding and attribute neutralization to prevent this class of XSS.

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.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping of untrusted data in HTML attributes, directly eliminating CWE-83.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches attribute-injection flaws before release but does not itself implement the fix.

A.5.6 Contact with special interest groups partial match
prevents

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

A.5.7 Threat intelligence partial match
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.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and output encoding that directly prevents script injection in HTML attributes.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including attribute-based script injection.

References