CVE-2023-29209
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-notification-activitymacro Eval Injection vulnerability
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. Any user with view rights on commonly accessible documents including the legacy notification activity macro can execute arbitrary Groovy, Python or Velocity code in XWiki leading to full access to the XWiki installation. The root cause is improper escaping of the macro parameters of the legacy notification activity macro. This macro is installed by default in XWiki. The vulnerability can be exploited via every wiki page that is editable including the user's profile, but also with just view rights using the HTMLConverter that is part of the CKEditor integration which is bundled with XWiki. The vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-notification-activitymacro Eval Injection vulnerability
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. Any user with view rights on commonly accessible documents including the legacy notification activity macro can execute arbitrary Groovy, Python or Velocity code in XWiki leading to full access to the XWiki installation. The root cause is improper escaping of the macro parameters of the legacy notification activity macro. This macro is installed by default in XWiki. The vulnerability can be exploited via every wiki page that is editable including the user's profile, but also with just view rights using the HTMLConverter that is part of the CKEditor integration which is bundled with XWiki. The vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10.
- Record
CVE-2023-29209- CVSS 3.1
- 10.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-95
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-1256
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. Any user with view rights on commonly accessible documents including the legacy notification activity macro can execute arbitrary Groovy, Python or Velocity code in XWiki leading to full access to the XWiki installation. The root cause is improper escaping of the macro parameters of the legacy notification activity macro. This macro is installed by default in XWiki. The vulnerability can be exploited via every wiki page that is editable including the user's profile, but also with just view rights using the HTMLConverter that is part of the CKEditor integration which is bundled with XWiki. The vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10.
- Record
EUVD-2023-1256- CVSS 3.1
- 10.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-9pc2-x9qf-7j2q
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-notification-activitymacro Eval Injection vulnerability
Impact
Any user with view rights on commonly accessible documents including the legacy notification activity macro can execute arbitrary Groovy, Python or Velocity code in XWiki leading to full access to the XWiki installation. The root cause is improper escaping of the macro parameters of the legacy notification activity macro. This macro is installed by default in XWiki.
A proof of concept exploit is
{{activity wikis="~" /~}~} {{async async=~"true~" cached=~"false~" context=~"doc.reference~"~}~}{{groovy~}~}println(~"Hello from Groovy!~"){{/groovy~}~}"/}}
If the output of this macro is
The [notifications] macro is a standalone macro and it cannot be used inline. Click on this message for details.
Hello from Groovy!" displayMinorEvents="false" displayRSSLink="false" /}}
or similar, the XWiki installation is vulnerable. The vulnerability can be exploited via every wiki page that is editable including the user's profile, but also with just view rights using the HTMLConverter that is part of the CKEditor integration which is bundled with XWiki.
Patches
The vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10.
Workarounds
The issue can be fixed by replacing the code of the legacy notification activity macro by the patched version. Alternatively, if the macro isn't used, the document XWiki.Notifications.Code.Legacy.ActivityMacro can also be completely deleted.
References
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/94392490884635c028199275db059a4f471e57bc
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20258
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in Jira XWiki.org
- Email us at Security Mailing List
- Record
GHSA-9pc2-x9qf-7j2q- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-94, CWE-95
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. Any user with view rights on commonly accessible documents including the legacy notification activity macro can execute arbitrary Groovy, Python or Velocity code in XWiki leading to full access to the XWiki installation. The root cause is improper escaping of the macro parameters of the legacy notification activity macro. This macro is installed by default in XWiki. The vulnerability can be exploited via every wiki page that is editable including the user's profile, but also with just view rights using the HTMLConverter that is part of the CKEditor integration which is bundled with XWiki. The vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10.
- Record
CVE-2023-29209- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-95, CWE-94
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-notification-activitymacro Eval Injection vulnerability
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. Any user with view rights on commonly accessible documents including the legacy notification activity macro can execute arbitrary Groovy, Python or Velocity code in XWiki leading to full access to the XWiki installation. The root cause is improper escaping of the macro parameters of the legacy notification activity macro. This macro is installed by default in XWiki. The vulnerability can be exploited via every wiki page that is editable including the user's profile, but also with just view rights using the HTMLConverter that is part of the CKEditor integration which is bundled with XWiki. The vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10.
- Record
CVE-2023-29209- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-95
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-9pc2-x9qf-7j2q
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-notification-activitymacro Eval Injection vulnerability
Impact
Any user with view rights on commonly accessible documents including the legacy notification activity macro can execute arbitrary Groovy, Python or Velocity code in XWiki leading to full access to the XWiki installation. The root cause is improper escaping of the macro parameters of the legacy notification activity macro. This macro is installed by default in XWiki.
A proof of concept exploit is
{{activity wikis="~" /~}~} {{async async=~"true~" cached=~"false~" context=~"doc.reference~"~}~}{{groovy~}~}println(~"Hello from Groovy!~"){{/groovy~}~}"/}}
If the output of this macro is
The [notifications] macro is a standalone macro and it cannot be used inline. Click on this message for details.
Hello from Groovy!" displayMinorEvents="false" displayRSSLink="false" /}}
or similar, the XWiki installation is vulnerable. The vulnerability can be exploited via every wiki page that is editable including the user's profile, but also with just view rights using the HTMLConverter that is part of the CKEditor integration which is bundled with XWiki.
Patches
The vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10.
Workarounds
The issue can be fixed by replacing the code of the legacy notification activity macro by the patched version. Alternatively, if the macro isn't used, the document XWiki.Notifications.Code.Legacy.ActivityMacro can also be completely deleted.
References
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/94392490884635c028199275db059a4f471e57bc
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20258
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in Jira XWiki.org
- Email us at Security Mailing List
- Record
GHSA-9pc2-x9qf-7j2q- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-94, CWE-95
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-notification-activitymacroMaven |
10.9 up to 13.10.11 | 13.10.11 |
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-notification-activitymacroMaven |
14.0-rc-1 up to 14.4.7 | 14.4.7 |
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-notification-activitymacroMaven |
14.5 up to 14.10 | 14.10 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-29209 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 10.0) in Xwiki, published April 12, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.14%, the 66th percentile. Fixed in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-notification-activitymacro 13.10.11.
References
github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/security/advisories/GHSA-9pc2-x9qf-7j2q
jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20258
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-29209