Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2024-31981 is a critical-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Xwiki Xwiki. Its CVSS base score is 9.9 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 29% 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 AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — 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 a remote code execution vulnerability in its PDF export template handling. The flaw affects all versions from 3.0.1 through 14.10.19, 15.5.3, and 15.9, and stems from missing authorization checks (CWE-862) that allow untrusted input to influence template processing during PDF generation.
An authenticated attacker with low privileges can exploit the issue over the network by supplying a malicious PDF export template. Successful exploitation yields full remote code execution with impacts across confidentiality, integrity, and availability, and the vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 9.9 due to its scope-changing effects.
The official XWiki security advisory and associated patches recommend immediate upgrade to 14.10.20, 15.5.4, or 15.10-rc-1. Where PDF templates are not in use, administrators may create the document XWiki.PDFClass, ensure it lacks a style attribute, and restrict editing rights as a temporary control; the linked GitHub commits and Jira issue XWIKI-21337 document the precise code changes applied.
EPSS scores for this CVE rose from lower values after disclosure to a peak of 0.3368 on 2025-12-11 before receding to the current 0.2414, indicating measurable post-publication exploitation interest.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-1314
Vulnerability Data
XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in version 3.0.1 and prior to versions 4.10.20, 15.5.4, and 15.10-rc-1, remote code execution is possible via PDF export templates. This vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 14.10.20, 15.5.4 and 15.10-rc-1. If…
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PDF templates are not typically used on the instance, an administrator can create the document `XWiki.PDFClass` and block its edition, after making sure that it does not contain a `style` attribute. Otherwise, there are no known workarounds aside from upgrading.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-3 directly requires enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally eliminating missing authorization checks.
AC-24 mandates that access control decisions are applied to each request, preventing bypass of authorization logic.
AC-25 requires a tamperproof, always-invoked reference monitor that ensures authorization checks cannot be omitted.
AC-6 reduces the set of actions reachable without proper authorization, limiting blast radius of missing checks.
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.
Explicitly requires defining, enforcing, and reviewing authorizations and least privilege, directly preventing missing authorization checks.
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.
Requiring authentication and credentials before any access occurs eliminates the absence of authorization checks that would otherwise allow an unauthenticated actor to reach protected resources.
Requiring formal authorization of every access request before rights are granted ensures that checks for required permissions are performed, preventing missing authorization checks from being introduced.
Mandatory authorization checks and central records of granted rights ensure that every access attempt is preceded by an explicit decision rather than relying on missing checks.
Segregating the approval of access rights from their implementation provides an independent check that reduces the impact of missing authorization checks in the resulting system configuration.
By requiring competent outsiders to verify that every function enforces the need-to-know principle, the control lowers the likelihood that missing authorization checks persist undetected.
Defining authorization responsibilities and reviewing risk-treatment progress throughout the project lifecycle catches missing authorization checks before the system is deployed.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
- V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
- V-251704 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
- V-204429 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862