Summary
XWiki Remote Code Execution Vulnerability via User Registration
Workarounds
In the administration of your wiki, under "Users & Rights" > "Registration" set the "Registration Successful Message" to the following code:
#set($message = $services.localization.render('core.register.successful', 'xwiki/2.1', ['USERLINK', $userName]))
#set($userLink = $xwiki.getUserName("$userSpace$userName"))
{{info}}$message.replace('USERLINK', "{{html clean=false}}$userLink{{/html}}"){{/info}}
References
Impact
XWiki is vulnerable to a remote code execution (RCE) attack through its user registration feature. This issue allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code by crafting malicious payloads in the "first name" or "last name" fields during user registration. This impacts all installations that have user registration enabled for guests.
To reproduce, register with any username and password and the following payload as "first name": ]]{{/html}}{{async}}{{groovy}}services.logging.getLogger("attacker").error("Attack succeeded){{/groovy}}{{/async}}. In the following page that confirms the success of the registration, the full first name should be displayed, linking to the created user. If the formatting is broken and a log message with content "ERROR attacker - Attack succeeded!" is logged, the attack succeeded.
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-2024-21650 has a CVSS score of 10.0 (Critical). 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 (14.10.17, 15.5.3, 15.8-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 vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 14.10.17, 15.5.3 and 15.8 RC1.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-21650? CVE-2024-21650 is a critical-severity code injection vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-ui (maven), affecting versions >= 2.2, < 14.10.17. It is fixed in 14.10.17, 15.5.3, 15.8-rc-1. Untrusted input is evaluated as executable code within the application's runtime environment.
- How severe is CVE-2024-21650? CVE-2024-21650 has a CVSS score of 10.0 (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.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-ui are affected by CVE-2024-21650? org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-ui (maven) versions >= 2.2, < 14.10.17 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-21650? Yes. CVE-2024-21650 is fixed in 14.10.17, 15.5.3, 15.8-rc-1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-21650 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-21650 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-2024-21650 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-2024-21650?
- Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-uito 14.10.17 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-uito 15.5.3 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-administration-uito 15.8-rc-1 or later
- Upgrade