CVE-2023-29528
Cross-site Scripting in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. The "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1 and massively improved in version 14.6-rc-1, allowed the injection of arbitrary HTML code and thus cross-site scripting via invalid HTML comments. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). When a privileged user with programming rights visits such a comment in XWiki, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. This allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance. This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10, HTML comments are now removed in restricted mode and a check has been introduced that ensures that comments don't start with >. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Cross-site Scripting in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. The "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1 and massively improved in version 14.6-rc-1, allowed the injection of arbitrary HTML code and thus cross-site scripting via invalid HTML comments. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). When a privileged user with programming rights visits such a comment in XWiki, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. This allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance. This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10, HTML comments are now removed in restricted mode and a check has been introduced that ensures that comments don't start with >. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.
- Record
CVE-2023-29528- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-1420
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. The "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1 and massively improved in version 14.6-rc-1, allowed the injection of arbitrary HTML code and thus cross-site scripting via invalid HTML comments. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). When a privileged user with programming rights visits such a comment in XWiki, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. This allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance. This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10, HTML comments are now removed in restricted mode and a check has been introduced that ensures that comments don't start with >. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.
- Record
EUVD-2023-1420- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-x37v-36wv-6v6h
Cross-site Scripting in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml
Impact
The "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1 and massively improved in version 14.6-rc-1, allowed the injection of arbitrary HTML code and thus cross-site scripting via invalid HTML comments. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). An example are anonymous comments in XWiki where the HTML macro filters HTML using restricted mode:
{{html}}
<!--> <Details Open OnToggle=confirm("XSS")>
{{/html}}
When a privileged user with programming rights visits such a comment in XWiki, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. This allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance.
Note that while all versions since 4.2-milestone-1 should be vulnerable, only starting with version 14.6-rc-1 the HTML comment is necessary for the attack to succeed due to another vulnerability that has been patched in version 14.6-rc-1.
Patches
This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10, HTML comments are now removed in restricted mode and a check has been introduced that ensures that comments don't start with >.
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.
References
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XCOMMONS-2568
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20348
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/commit/8ff1a9d7e5d7b45b690134a537d53dc05cae04ab
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in Jira XWiki
- Email us at XWiki Security mailing-list
Attribution
This vulnerability was reported on Intigriti by ynoof @Ynoof5.
- Record
GHSA-x37v-36wv-6v6h- CVSS 3.1
- 9.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. The "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1 and massively improved in version 14.6-rc-1, allowed the injection of arbitrary HTML code and thus cross-site scripting via invalid HTML comments. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). When a privileged user with programming rights visits such a comment in XWiki, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. This allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance. This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10, HTML comments are now removed in restricted mode and a check has been introduced that ensures that comments don't start with >. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.
- Record
CVE-2023-29528- CVSS 3.1
- 9.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Cross-site Scripting in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. The "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1 and massively improved in version 14.6-rc-1, allowed the injection of arbitrary HTML code and thus cross-site scripting via invalid HTML comments. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). When a privileged user with programming rights visits such a comment in XWiki, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. This allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance. This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10, HTML comments are now removed in restricted mode and a check has been introduced that ensures that comments don't start with >. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.
- Record
CVE-2023-29528- CVSS 3.1
- 9.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-x37v-36wv-6v6h
Cross-site Scripting in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml
Impact
The "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1 and massively improved in version 14.6-rc-1, allowed the injection of arbitrary HTML code and thus cross-site scripting via invalid HTML comments. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). An example are anonymous comments in XWiki where the HTML macro filters HTML using restricted mode:
{{html}}
<!--> <Details Open OnToggle=confirm("XSS")>
{{/html}}
When a privileged user with programming rights visits such a comment in XWiki, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. This allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance.
Note that while all versions since 4.2-milestone-1 should be vulnerable, only starting with version 14.6-rc-1 the HTML comment is necessary for the attack to succeed due to another vulnerability that has been patched in version 14.6-rc-1.
Patches
This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10, HTML comments are now removed in restricted mode and a check has been introduced that ensures that comments don't start with >.
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.
References
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XCOMMONS-2568
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20348
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/commit/8ff1a9d7e5d7b45b690134a537d53dc05cae04ab
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in Jira XWiki
- Email us at XWiki Security mailing-list
Attribution
This vulnerability was reported on Intigriti by ynoof @Ynoof5.
- Record
GHSA-x37v-36wv-6v6h- CVSS 3.1
- 9.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xmlMaven |
4.2-milestone-1 up to 14.10 | 14.10 |
org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xmlMaven |
4.2-milestone-1 up to 14.10, plus listed versions 10.010.110.1-rc-110.1010.10-rc-1 Show 45 moreShow less10.1110.11-rc-110.11.110.11.1010.11.1110.11.210.11.310.11.410.11.510.11.610.11.710.11.810.11.910.210.310.410.4-rc-110.510.5-rc-110.610.6-rc-110.6.110.710.7-rc-110.7.110.810.8-rc-110.8.110.8.210.8.310.911.011.0.111.0.211.0.311.111.1-rc-111.1011.10.111.10.1011.10.1111.10.1211.10.1311.10.211.10.3 |
14.10 |
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| PoC in GitHub | shoucheng3/xwiki__xwiki-commons_CVE-2023-29528_14-9-rc-1 | 2025-08-20 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV, PoC in GitHub |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-29528 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.1) in Xwiki Commons, published April 20, 2023. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.28%, the 70th percentile. Fixed in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml 14.10.
References
github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/security/advisories/GHSA-x37v-36wv-6v6h
jira.xwiki.org/browse/XCOMMONS-2568
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-29528
Left out here: 322 versions. The JSON record has them.