Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-35159

XSS in Xwiki 3.5 – 14.10.5

XSS
Published
23 June 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.022 81th percentile
Risk Priority 85 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-35159 is a critical-severity Improper Neutralization of Alternate XSS Syntax (CWE-87) vulnerability in Xwiki Xwiki. Its CVSS base score is 9.6 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Browser Session Hijacking (T1185); ranked in the top 19% 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 Platform, a generic wiki platform, contains a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability in its deletespace template that permits JavaScript injection through a crafted URL parameter such as xredirect=javascript:alert(document.domain). The flaw has existed since version 3.4-milestone-1 and is tracked under CWE-79 and CWE-87.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by supplying a malicious link that a victim user follows, resulting in arbitrary script execution in the victim's browser context. Successful exploitation can lead to theft of session data, account takeover, or other actions with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, as reflected in the CVSS 9.6 score.

Advisories and patches indicate that the vulnerability is resolved in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1-rc-1; the referenced GitHub commits, GHSA-x234-mg7q-m8g8, and associated JIRA tickets XWIKI-20583 and XWIKI-20612 provide the remediation details and upgrade guidance.

The EPSS score rose materially from a low baseline to a peak of 0.3788 on 2025-01-22 before receding to the current value of 0.0428, indicating that exploitation interest emerged after public disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. Users are able to forge an URL with a payload allowing to inject Javascript in the page (XSS). It's possible to exploit the…

more

deletespace template to perform a XSS, e.g. by using URL such as: > xwiki/bin/deletespace/Sandbox/?xredirect=javascript:alert(document.domain). This vulnerability exists since XWiki 3.4-milestone-1. The vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1-rc-1.

CWE(s)
CWE-87CWE-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-2023-35156Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-35160Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-35161Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
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

Affected Assets

xwiki
xwiki
15.0, 3.4, 3.5 · 3.5 — 14.10.5

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

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 proper input neutralization and output encoding to prevent alternate XSS syntax.

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 neutralization of alternate script syntax, directly eliminating CWE-87.

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

Security testing catches residual XSS but does not itself implement the neutralization controls.

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 prevent alternate XSS syntax.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for neutralization of untrusted input to block XSS variants.

References