Summary
Workarounds
There is no known workaround, other than upgrading XWiki.
References
https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-22691
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
Attribution
Sergey Anufrienko from Kaspersky ICS-CERT vulnerability research team reported this vulnerability.
Impact
It is possible for a remote unauthenticated user to escape from the HQL execution context and perform a blind SQL injection to execute arbitrary SQL statements on the database backend, including when "Prevent unregistered users from viewing pages, regardless of the page rights" and "Prevent unregistered users from editing pages, regardless of the page rights" options are enabled.
Depending on the used database backend, the attacker may be able to not only obtain confidential information such as password hashes from the database, but also execute UPDATE/INSERT/DELETE queries.
The vulnerability may be tested in a default installation of XWIki Standard Flavor, including using the official Docker containers.
An example query, which leads to SQL injection with MySQL/MariaDB backend is shown below:
time curl "http://127.0.0.1:8080/rest/wikis/xwiki/query?q=where%20doc.name=length('a')*org.apache.logging.log4j.util.Chars.SPACE%20or%201%3C%3E%271%5C%27%27%20union%20select%201,2,3,sleep(10)%20%23%27&type=hql&distinct=0"
When executed, the response from the server will come after a delay of 10 extra seconds, indicating successful execution of the injected SQL statement.
An example of a query for the PostgreSQL database backend is shown below:
curl "https://127.0.0.1:8080/rest/wikis/xwiki/query?q=where%20%24%24='%24%24=concat(%20chr(%2061%20),(chr(%2039%20))%20)%20;select%201%20--%20comment'&type=hql&distinct=0"
Both requests employ database backend dependent techniques of breaking out of HQL query context, described, for example, here: https://www.sonarsource.com/blog/exploiting-hibernate-injections.
Untrusted input alters a database query, allowing the attacker to read or modify data the query was not intended to access. Typical impact: data disclosure or modification.
CVE-2025-32969 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (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 (15.10.16, 16.4.6, 16.10.1); 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.
Remediation advice
This has been patched in 16.10.1, 16.4.6 and 15.10.16.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2025-32969? CVE-2025-32969 is a critical-severity SQL injection vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server (maven), affecting versions >= 1.8, < 15.10.16. It is fixed in 15.10.16, 16.4.6, 16.10.1. Untrusted input alters a database query, allowing the attacker to read or modify data the query was not intended to access.
- How severe is CVE-2025-32969? CVE-2025-32969 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (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-rest-server are affected by CVE-2025-32969? org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server (maven) versions >= 1.8, < 15.10.16 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2025-32969? Yes. CVE-2025-32969 is fixed in 15.10.16, 16.4.6, 16.10.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2025-32969 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-32969 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-2025-32969 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-2025-32969?
- Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-serverto 15.10.16 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-serverto 16.4.6 or later - Upgrade
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-serverto 16.10.1 or later
- Upgrade