Summary
XWiki Platform vulnerable to privilege escalation and remote code execution via the edit action
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds for it.
References
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20385
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/a0e6ca083b36be6f183b9af33ae735c1e02010f4
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
In XWiki Platform, it's possible for a user to execute any content with the right of an existing document's content author, provided the user have edit right on it. The reason for this is that the edit action sets the content without modifying the content author.
To reproduce:
- Log in as a user without programming or script right.
- Open the URL
<xwiki-host>/xwiki/bin/edit/<document>/?content=%7B%7Bgroovy%7D%7Dprintln%28%22Hello+from+Groovy%21%22%29%7B%7B%2Fgroovy%7D%7D&xpage=view, where<xwiki-host>is the URL of your XWiki installation and<document>is the path to a document whose content author has programming right (or script right) and on which the current user has edit right.
The text "Hello from Groovy!" is displayed in the page content, showing that the Groovy macro has been executed, which should not be the case for a user without programming right.
Untrusted input is evaluated as executable code within the application's runtime environment. Typical impact: arbitrary code execution within the application's privilege context.
CVE-2023-46243 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (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 (15.2-rc-1, 14.10.6); 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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See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
This has been patched in XWiki 14.10.6 and 15.2RC1.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-46243? CVE-2023-46243 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore (maven), affecting versions >= 15.0, < 15.2-rc-1. It is fixed in 15.2-rc-1, 14.10.6. Untrusted input is evaluated as executable code within the application's runtime environment.
- How severe is CVE-2023-46243? CVE-2023-46243 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (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-2023-46243? org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore (maven) versions >= 15.0, < 15.2-rc-1 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-46243? Yes. CVE-2023-46243 is fixed in 15.2-rc-1, 14.10.6. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-46243 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-46243 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-2023-46243 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-2023-46243?
- Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcoreto 15.2-rc-1 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcoreto 14.10.6 or later
- Upgrade