Summary
Improper Neutralization of Invalid Characters in Data Attribute Names in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.
References
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XCOMMONS-2606
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/commit/0b8e9c45b7e7457043938f35265b2aa5adc76a68
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in Jira XWiki
- Email us at XWiki Security mailing-list
Impact
The HTML sanitizer, introduced in version 14.6-rc-1, allowed the injection of arbitrary HTML code and thus cross-site scripting via invalid data attributes. This can be exploited, e.g., via the link syntax in any content that supports XWiki syntax like comments in XWiki:
[[Link1>>https://XWiki.example.com||data-x/onmouseover="alert('XSS1')"]].
When a user moves the mouse over this link, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. When this user is a privileged user who has programming rights, this allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance.
Note that this vulnerability does not affect restricted cleaning in HTMLCleaner as there attributes are cleaned and thus characters like / and > are removed in all attribute names.
Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session. Typical impact: session or credential theft, and actions taken as the user.
CVE-2023-31126 has a CVSS score of 9.0 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and user interaction required. 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 (14.10.4); 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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This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10.4 and 15.0 RC1 by making sure that data attributes only contain allowed characters.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-31126? CVE-2023-31126 is a critical-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml (maven), affecting versions >= 14.6-rc-1, < 14.10.4. It is fixed in 14.10.4. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- How severe is CVE-2023-31126? CVE-2023-31126 has a CVSS score of 9.0 (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 versions of org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml are affected by CVE-2023-31126? org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml (maven) versions >= 14.6-rc-1, < 14.10.4 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-31126? Yes. CVE-2023-31126 is fixed in 14.10.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-31126 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-31126 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-2023-31126 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-2023-31126? Upgrade
org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xmlto 14.10.4 or later.