CVE-2023-40177
XWiki Platform privilege escalation (PR) from account through AWM content fields
XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation. This issue is present since version 4.3M2 when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the AppWithinMinutes.Content author, rather than the rights of the content author. The vulnerability has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1RC1. The fix is in the content of the AppWithinMinutes.Content page that defines the custom displayer. By using the display script service to render the content we make sure that the proper author is used for access rights checks.
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
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
XWiki Platform privilege escalation (PR) from account through AWM content fields
XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation. This issue is present since version 4.3M2 when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the AppWithinMinutes.Content author, rather than the rights of the content author. The vulnerability has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1RC1. The fix is in the content of the AppWithinMinutes.Content page that defines the custom displayer. By using the display script service to render the content we make sure that the proper author is used for access rights checks.
- Record
CVE-2023-40177- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-95
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-2215
XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation. This issue is present since version 4.3M2 when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the AppWithinMinutes.Content author, rather than the rights of the content author. The vulnerability has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1RC1. The fix is in the content of the AppWithinMinutes.Content page that defines the custom displayer. By using the display script service to render the content we make sure that the proper author is used for access rights checks.
- Record
EUVD-2023-2215- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp
XWiki Platform privilege escalation (PR) from account through AWM content fields
Impact
Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation.
The problem is present since version 4.3M2 when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the AppWithinMinutes.Content author, rather than the rights of the content author.
Patches
The issue has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1RC1 by https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/dfb1cde173e363ca5c12eb3654869f9719820262 . The fix is in the content of the AppWithinMinutes.Content page that defines the custom displayer. By using the display script service to render the content we make sure that the proper author is used for access rights checks.
Workarounds
If you want to fix this problem on older versions of XWiki that have not been patched then you need to modify the content of AppWithinMinutes.Content page to use the display script service to render the content, like this:
- {{html}}$tdoc.getRenderedContent($tdoc.content, $tdoc.syntax.toIdString()).replace('{{', '{{'){{/html}}
+ {{html}}$services.display.content($tdoc, {
+ 'displayerHint': 'default'
+ }).replace('{{/html}}', '{{/html}}'){{/html}}
References
- JIRA issue https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-19906
- Fix https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/dfb1cde173e363ca5c12eb3654869f9719820262
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
Attribution
This vulnerability has been found and reported by @michitux .
- Record
GHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-95
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation. This issue is present since version 4.3M2 when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the AppWithinMinutes.Content author, rather than the rights of the content author. The vulnerability has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1RC1. The fix is in the content of the AppWithinMinutes.Content page that defines the custom displayer. By using the display script service to render the content we make sure that the proper author is used for access rights checks.
- Record
CVE-2023-40177- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L - 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
XWiki Platform privilege escalation (PR) from account through AWM content fields
XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation. This issue is present since version 4.3M2 when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the AppWithinMinutes.Content author, rather than the rights of the content author. The vulnerability has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1RC1. The fix is in the content of the AppWithinMinutes.Content page that defines the custom displayer. By using the display script service to render the content we make sure that the proper author is used for access rights checks.
- Record
CVE-2023-40177- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-95
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp
XWiki Platform privilege escalation (PR) from account through AWM content fields
Impact
Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation.
The problem is present since version 4.3M2 when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the AppWithinMinutes.Content author, rather than the rights of the content author.
Patches
The issue has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1RC1 by https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/dfb1cde173e363ca5c12eb3654869f9719820262 . The fix is in the content of the AppWithinMinutes.Content page that defines the custom displayer. By using the display script service to render the content we make sure that the proper author is used for access rights checks.
Workarounds
If you want to fix this problem on older versions of XWiki that have not been patched then you need to modify the content of AppWithinMinutes.Content page to use the display script service to render the content, like this:
- {{html}}$tdoc.getRenderedContent($tdoc.content, $tdoc.syntax.toIdString()).replace('{{', '{{'){{/html}}
+ {{html}}$services.display.content($tdoc, {
+ 'displayerHint': 'default'
+ }).replace('{{/html}}', '{{/html}}'){{/html}}
References
- JIRA issue https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-19906
- Fix https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/dfb1cde173e363ca5c12eb3654869f9719820262
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
Attribution
This vulnerability has been found and reported by @michitux .
- Record
GHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-95
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-uiMaven |
4.3-milestone-2 up to 14.10.5 | 14.10.5 |
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-2023-40177 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.9) in Xwiki, published August 21, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.06%, the 64th percentile. Fixed in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui 14.10.5.
References
github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/security/advisories/GHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp
jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-7369
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40177