XSS in Xwiki Commons
CVE-2023-36471
Xwiki commons is the common modules used by other XWiki top level projects. The HTML sanitizer that is included in XWiki since version 14.6RC1 allowed form and input HTML tags. In the context of XWiki, this allows an attacker without script right to either create forms that can be used for phishing attacks or also in the context of a sheet, the attacker could add an input like `{{html}}<input type="hidden" name="content" value="{{groovy}}println("Hello from Groovy!")" />{{/html}}` that would allow remote code execution when it is submitted by an admin (the sheet is rendered as part of the edit form). The attacker would need to ensure that the edit form looks plausible, though, which can be non-trivial as without script right the attacker cannot display the regular content of the document. This has been patched in XWiki 14.10.6 and 15.2RC1 by removing the central form-related tags from the list of allowed tags. Users are advised to upgrade. As a workaround an admin can manually disallow the tags by adding `form, input, select, textarea, button` to the configuration option `xml.htmlElementSanitizer.forbidTags` in the `xwiki.properties` configuration file.
EPSS: 0.010 (61.4th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 9.0 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Xwiki Commons — versions 15.0, 15.1
- Xwiki Xwiki-commons — versions >= 14.6-rc-1, < 14.10.6, >= 15.0-rc-1, < 15.2-rc-1
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_CONFIRM, Exploit, Mitigation, Vendor Advisory)
- security-advisories@github.com (Patch, x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (Exploit, Patch, x_refsource_MISC, Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2023-36471?
- CVE-2023-36471 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Xwiki Commons, classified under Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component (Injection). CVSS score: 9.0/10. Published 2023-06-29.
- How severe is CVE-2023-36471?
- Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.0 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2023-36471 known to be exploited?
- 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.