Summary
XWiki.WebHome vulnerable to Improper Privilege Management in XWiki resolving groups
Workarounds
It's possible to workaround the problem by setting appropriate rights on XWiki.WebHome page to prevent users to edit it.
References
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
Impact
It's possible to exploit a bug in XWikiRights resolution of groups to obtain privilege escalation.
More specifically, editing a right with the object editor leads to adding a supplementary empty value to groups which is then resolved as a reference to XWiki.WebHome page. Adding an XWikiGroup xobject to that page then transforms it to a group, any user put in that group would then obtain the privileges related to the edited right.
Note that this security issue is normally mitigated by the fact that XWiki.WebHome (and XWiki space in general) should be protected by default for edit rights.
The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access. Typical impact: privilege escalation beyond the intended level.
CVE-2022-31166 has a CVSS score of 8.1 (High). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (13.10.4, 14.2-rc-1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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The problem has been patched in XWiki 13.10.4 and 14.2RC1 to not consider anymore empty values in XWikiRights.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2022-31166? CVE-2022-31166 is a high-severity improper privilege management vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore (maven), affecting versions >= 11.3.7, < 13.10.4. It is fixed in 13.10.4, 14.2-rc-1. The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access.
- How severe is CVE-2022-31166? CVE-2022-31166 has a CVSS score of 8.1 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore are affected by CVE-2022-31166? org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore (maven) versions >= 11.3.7, < 13.10.4 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2022-31166? Yes. CVE-2022-31166 is fixed in 13.10.4, 14.2-rc-1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2022-31166 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-31166 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2022-31166 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2022-31166?
- Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcoreto 13.10.4 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcoreto 14.2-rc-1 or later
- Upgrade