CVE-2025-53835
XWiki Rendering is vulnerable to XSS attacks through insecure XHTML syntax
XWiki Rendering is a generic rendering system that converts textual input in a given syntax (wiki syntax, HTML, etc) into another syntax (XHTML, etc). Starting in version 5.4.5 and prior to version 14.10, the XHTML syntax depended on the xdom+xml/current syntax which allows the creation of raw blocks that permit the insertion of arbitrary HTML content including JavaScript. This allows XSS attacks for users who can edit a document like their user profile (enabled by default). This has been fixed in version 14.10 by removing the dependency on the xdom+xml/current syntax from the XHTML syntax. Note that the xdom+xml syntax is still vulnerable to this attack. As it's main purpose is testing and its use is quite difficult, this syntax shouldn't be installed or used on a regular wiki. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading.
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
XWiki Rendering is vulnerable to XSS attacks through insecure XHTML syntax
XWiki Rendering is a generic rendering system that converts textual input in a given syntax (wiki syntax, HTML, etc) into another syntax (XHTML, etc). Starting in version 5.4.5 and prior to version 14.10, the XHTML syntax depended on the xdom+xml/current syntax which allows the creation of raw blocks that permit the insertion of arbitrary HTML content including JavaScript. This allows XSS attacks for users who can edit a document like their user profile (enabled by default). This has been fixed in version 14.10 by removing the dependency on the xdom+xml/current syntax from the XHTML syntax. Note that the xdom+xml syntax is still vulnerable to this attack. As it's main purpose is testing and its use is quite difficult, this syntax shouldn't be installed or used on a regular wiki. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading.
- Record
CVE-2025-53835- 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, CWE-80
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2025-21399
XWiki Rendering is a generic rendering system that converts textual input in a given syntax (wiki syntax, HTML, etc) into another syntax (XHTML, etc). Starting in version 5.4.5 and prior to version 14.10, the XHTML syntax depended on the xdom+xml/current syntax which allows the creation of raw blocks that permit the insertion of arbitrary HTML content including JavaScript. This allows XSS attacks for users who can edit a document like their user profile (enabled by default). This has been fixed in version 14.10 by removing the dependency on the xdom+xml/current syntax from the XHTML syntax. Note that the xdom+xml syntax is still vulnerable to this attack. As it's main purpose is testing and its use is quite difficult, this syntax shouldn't be installed or used on a regular wiki. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading.
- Record
EUVD-2025-21399- 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
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-w3wh-g4m9-783p
XWiki Rendering is vulnerable to XSS attacks through insecure XHTML syntax
Impact
The XHTML syntax depended on the xdom+xml/current syntax which allows the creation of raw blocks that permit the insertion of arbitrary HTML content including JavaScript. This allows XSS attacks for users who can edit a document like their user profile (enabled by default). The attack works by setting the document's syntax to xdom+xml/current and then inserting content like
<document><p><metadata><metadata><entry><string>syntax</string><org.xwiki.rendering.syntax.Syntax><type><name>XHTML</name><id>xhtml</id><variants class="empty-list"></variants></type><version>5</version></org.xwiki.rendering.syntax.Syntax></entry></metadata></metadata></p><rawtext syntax="html/5.0" content="<script>alert(1);</script>"></rawtext></document>
This has been fixed by removing the dependency on the xdom+xml/current syntax from the XHTML syntax. Note that the xdom+xml syntax is still vulnerable to this attack. As it's main purpose is testing and its use is quite difficult, this syntax shouldn't be installed or used on a regular wiki. We're currently not aware of any further dependencies on it.
Patches
The fix of removing the dependency has been included in XWiki 14.10. It is not released for earlier versions due to the potential breakages, among others this change makes it necessary to update the Confluence XHTML syntax as it relies on internals that were changed for the fix. Similar XSS fixes were also not applied to the LTS version 13.10.x due to the potential breakages.
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading.
References
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XRENDERING-660
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/commit/a4ca31f99f524b9456c64150d6f375984aa81ea7
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-w3wh-g4m9-783p- 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, CWE-80
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
XWiki Rendering is a generic rendering system that converts textual input in a given syntax (wiki syntax, HTML, etc) into another syntax (XHTML, etc). Starting in version 5.4.5 and prior to version 14.10, the XHTML syntax depended on the xdom+xml/current syntax which allows the creation of raw blocks that permit the insertion of arbitrary HTML content including JavaScript. This allows XSS attacks for users who can edit a document like their user profile (enabled by default). This has been fixed in version 14.10 by removing the dependency on the xdom+xml/current syntax from the XHTML syntax. Note that the xdom+xml syntax is still vulnerable to this attack. As it's main purpose is testing and its use is quite difficult, this syntax shouldn't be installed or used on a regular wiki. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading.
- Record
CVE-2025-53835- 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, CWE-80
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
XWiki Rendering is vulnerable to XSS attacks through insecure XHTML syntax
XWiki Rendering is a generic rendering system that converts textual input in a given syntax (wiki syntax, HTML, etc) into another syntax (XHTML, etc). Starting in version 5.4.5 and prior to version 14.10, the XHTML syntax depended on the xdom+xml/current syntax which allows the creation of raw blocks that permit the insertion of arbitrary HTML content including JavaScript. This allows XSS attacks for users who can edit a document like their user profile (enabled by default). This has been fixed in version 14.10 by removing the dependency on the xdom+xml/current syntax from the XHTML syntax. Note that the xdom+xml syntax is still vulnerable to this attack. As it's main purpose is testing and its use is quite difficult, this syntax shouldn't be installed or used on a regular wiki. There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading.
- Record
CVE-2025-53835- 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, CWE-80
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-w3wh-g4m9-783p
XWiki Rendering is vulnerable to XSS attacks through insecure XHTML syntax
Impact
The XHTML syntax depended on the xdom+xml/current syntax which allows the creation of raw blocks that permit the insertion of arbitrary HTML content including JavaScript. This allows XSS attacks for users who can edit a document like their user profile (enabled by default). The attack works by setting the document's syntax to xdom+xml/current and then inserting content like
<document><p><metadata><metadata><entry><string>syntax</string><org.xwiki.rendering.syntax.Syntax><type><name>XHTML</name><id>xhtml</id><variants class="empty-list"></variants></type><version>5</version></org.xwiki.rendering.syntax.Syntax></entry></metadata></metadata></p><rawtext syntax="html/5.0" content="<script>alert(1);</script>"></rawtext></document>
This has been fixed by removing the dependency on the xdom+xml/current syntax from the XHTML syntax. Note that the xdom+xml syntax is still vulnerable to this attack. As it's main purpose is testing and its use is quite difficult, this syntax shouldn't be installed or used on a regular wiki. We're currently not aware of any further dependencies on it.
Patches
The fix of removing the dependency has been included in XWiki 14.10. It is not released for earlier versions due to the potential breakages, among others this change makes it necessary to update the Confluence XHTML syntax as it relies on internals that were changed for the fix. Similar XSS fixes were also not applied to the LTS version 13.10.x due to the potential breakages.
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading.
References
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XRENDERING-660
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/commit/a4ca31f99f524b9456c64150d6f375984aa81ea7
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-w3wh-g4m9-783p- 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, CWE-80
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-syntax-xhtmlMaven |
5.4.5 up to 14.10 | 14.10 |
org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-syntax-xhtmlMaven |
5.4.5 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 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2025-53835 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.1) in Xwiki, published July 14, 2025. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.41%, the 35th percentile. Fixed in org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-syntax-xhtml 14.10.
References
github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/security/advisories/GHSA-w3wh-g4m9-783p
jira.xwiki.org/browse/XRENDERING-660
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-53835
Left out here: 270 versions. The JSON record has them.