Summary
XWiki Platform vulnerable to privilege escalation from view right on XWiki.Notifications.Code.LegacyNotificationAdministration
Workarounds
For versions >= 14.6-rc-1 the workaround is to modify the page XWiki.Notifications.Code.LegacyNotificationAdministration to add the missing escaping, as described on https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/8e7c7f90f2ddaf067cb5b83b181af41513028754#diff-4e13f4ee4a42938bf1201b7ee71ca32edeacba22559daf0bcb89d534e0225949R70
For versions < 14.6-rc-1 the workaround is to modify the file <xwikiwebapp>/templates/distribution/eventmigration.wiki to add the missing escaping, as described on https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/6d74e2e4aa03d19f0be385ab63ae9e0f0e90a766
References
https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20287
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
Steps to reproduce:
Open /xwiki/bin/view/XWiki/Notifications/Code/LegacyNotificationAdministration?since=%7B%7B%2Fhtml%7D%7D+%7B%7Basync+async%3D%22true%22+cached%3D%22false%22+context%3D%22doc.reference%22%7D%7D%7B%7Bgroovy%7D%7Dprintln%28%22Hello+%22+%2B+%22from+groovy%21%22%29%7B%7B%2Fgroovy%7D%7D%7B%7B%2Fasync%7D%7D, where is the URL of your XWiki installation.
This demonstrates an XWiki syntax injection attack via the since-parameter, allowing privilege escalation from view to programming rights.
CVE-2023-29525 has a CVSS score of 9.9 (Critical). 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 (13.10.11, 14.4.8, 14.6-rc-1, 14.10.3); 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 vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 15.0-rc-1, 14.10.3, 14.4.8 and 14.10.3.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-29525? CVE-2023-29525 is a critical-severity security vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-distribution-war (maven), affecting versions >= 12.6.1, < 13.10.11. It is fixed in 13.10.11, 14.4.8, 14.6-rc-1, 14.10.3.
- How severe is CVE-2023-29525? CVE-2023-29525 has a CVSS score of 9.9 (Critical). 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 packages are affected by CVE-2023-29525?
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-distribution-war(maven) (versions >= 12.6.1, < 13.10.11)org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-events-hibernate-ui(maven) (versions >= 14.6-rc-1, < 14.10.3)
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-29525? Yes. CVE-2023-29525 is fixed in 13.10.11, 14.4.8, 14.6-rc-1, 14.10.3. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-29525 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-29525 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-2023-29525 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-2023-29525?
- Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-distribution-warto 13.10.11 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-distribution-warto 14.4.8 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-distribution-warto 14.6-rc-1 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-legacy-events-hibernate-uito 14.10.3 or later
- Upgrade