Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-31996

RCE in Xwiki 3.0.1 – 14.10.19

Public PoCRCE
Published
10 April 2024
Modified
09 January 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 10.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.021 80th percentile
Risk Priority 86 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2024-31996 is a critical-severity Eval Injection (CWE-95) vulnerability in Xwiki Xwiki. Its CVSS base score is 10.0 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique JavaScript (T1059.007); ranked in the top 20% 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — 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 versions starting from 3.0.1 and prior to 14.10.19, 15.5.4, and 15.10-rc-1 contain an incomplete HTML escaping implementation in the escaping tool. The tool fails to escape the "{" character, which permits XWiki syntax injection when the output of $escapetool.html is rendered in certain contexts, ultimately enabling remote code execution. The affected component is the core escaping utility used throughout wiki documents and extensions.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can supply crafted input that reaches the vulnerable escaping call in exposed documents or extensions, achieving arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the XWiki application server. The CVSS 10.0 score reflects the absence of authentication, user interaction, or network restrictions combined with full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.

Advisories and patches recommend immediate upgrade to 14.10.19, 15.5.5, or 15.9 RC1. Where upgrades are not feasible, the specific workaround is to replace $escapetool.html with $escapetool.xml in affected documents; the maintainers identify Panels.PanelLayoutUpdate as one such document that must be patched, noting that other extensions may require similar changes.

The EPSS score rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.1837 on 2025-12-11 before receding to the current value of 0.0805, indicating that exploitation interest increased after public disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in version 3.0.1 and prior to versions 4.10.19, 15.5.4, and 15.10-rc-1, the HTML escaping of escaping tool that is used in XWiki doesn't escape `{`, which, when used in certain places, allows…

more

XWiki syntax injection and thereby remote code execution. The vulnerability has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.19, 15.5.5, and 15.9 RC1. Apart from upgrading, there is no generic workaround. However, replacing `$escapetool.html` by `$escapetool.xml` in XWiki documents fixes the vulnerability. In a standard XWiki installation, the maintainers are only aware of the document `Panels.PanelLayoutUpdate` that exposes this vulnerability, patching this document is thus a workaround. Any extension could expose this vulnerability and might thus require patching, too.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059.007 JavaScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse various implementations of JavaScript for execution.
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.002 AppleScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse AppleScript for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.005 Visual Basic Execution
Adversaries may abuse Visual Basic (VB) for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-21650Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-35150Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-40177Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2024-31465Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29210Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-50721Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-29509Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-35152Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2023-37909Same product: Xwiki Xwiki
CVE-2025-24893Same product: Xwiki Xwiki

Affected Assets

xwiki
xwiki
3.0.1 — 14.10.19 · 15.0 — 15.5.4 · 15.6 — 15.9

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)
  • V1.3.1
  • V1.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and code analysis can discover eval-injection flaws but does not stop their introduction.

Input validation explicitly requires neutralizing untrusted data before it reaches dynamic evaluation constructs such as eval.

Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.

Secure-development standards and tools can mandate safe coding patterns that avoid unsafe dynamic evaluation.

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.

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

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 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.

References