Summary
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-office-viewer
Workarounds
It might be possible to workaround this vulnerability by running XWiki in a sandbox with a user with very low privileges on the machine, now to run a servlet engine the user will always need access to some files, so in any case this workaround won't protect all files to be accessed.
References
- Original jira ticket: https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20447
- Jira ticket related to another exploit using same root cause: https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20324
- Jira ticket related to the possibility to exploit the same vulnerability to perform internal requests: https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20449
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
The office document viewer macro was allowing anyone to see any file content from the hosting server, provided that the office server was connected and depending on the permissions of the user running the servlet engine (e.g. tomcat) running XWiki. The same vulnerability also allowed to perform internal requests to resources from the hosting server.
CVE-2023-29517 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no 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 (13.10.11, 14.4.8, 14.10.1); 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 13.10.11, 14.10.1, 14.4.8, 15.0-rc-1.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-29517? CVE-2023-29517 is a high-severity security vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-office-viewer (maven), affecting versions >= 2.5-milestone-2, < 13.10.11. It is fixed in 13.10.11, 14.4.8, 14.10.1.
- How severe is CVE-2023-29517? CVE-2023-29517 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (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-office-viewer are affected by CVE-2023-29517? org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-office-viewer (maven) versions >= 2.5-milestone-2, < 13.10.11 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-29517? Yes. CVE-2023-29517 is fixed in 13.10.11, 14.4.8, 14.10.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-29517 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-29517 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-2023-29517 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-2023-29517?
- Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-office-viewerto 13.10.11 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-office-viewerto 14.4.8 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-office-viewerto 14.10.1 or later
- Upgrade