Summary
org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml's HTML sanitizer allows form elements in restricted
Workarounds
An admin can manually disallow the tags by adding form, input, select, textarea, button to the configuration option xml.htmlElementSanitizer.forbidTags in the xwiki.properties configuration file.
References
Impact
The HTML sanitizer that is included in XWiki since version 14.6RC1 allowed form and input HTML tags. In the context of XWiki, this allows an attacker without script right to either create forms that can be used for phishing attacks or also in the context of a sheet, the attacker could add an input like {{html}}<input type="hidden" name="content" value="{{groovy}}println("Hello from Groovy!")" />{{/html}} that would allow remote code execution when it is submitted by an admin (the sheet is rendered as part of the edit form). The attacker would need to ensure that the edit form looks plausible, though, which can be non-trivial as without script right the attacker cannot display the regular content of the document.
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-2023-36471 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 (14.10.6, 15.2-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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This has been patched in XWiki 14.10.6 and 15.2RC1 by removing the central form-related tags from the list of allowed tags.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-36471? CVE-2023-36471 is a critical-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml (maven), affecting versions >= 14.6-rc-1, < 14.10.6. It is fixed in 14.10.6, 15.2-rc-1. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- How severe is CVE-2023-36471? CVE-2023-36471 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-2023-36471? org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml (maven) versions >= 14.6-rc-1, < 14.10.6 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-36471? Yes. CVE-2023-36471 is fixed in 14.10.6, 15.2-rc-1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-36471 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-36471 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-2023-36471 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-2023-36471?
- Upgrade
org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xmlto 14.10.6 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xmlto 15.2-rc-1 or later
- Upgrade