CVE-2020-15171 — xwiki-platform-oldcore
MEDIUMCVE-2020-15171 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.6) Code Injection vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore. A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Users with SCRIPT right can execute arbitrary code in XWiki
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-15171 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcoreReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
Any user with SCRIPT right (EDIT right before XWiki 7.4) can gain access to the application server Servlet context which contains tools allowing to instantiate arbitrary Java objects and invoke methods that may lead to arbitrary code execution.
Patches
It has been patched in both version XWiki 12.2.1 and XWiki 11.10.5.
Workarounds
The only workaround is to give SCRIPT right only to trusted users.
References
https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-17141 https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-17266
It's been reported by the GitHub Security Lab under #GHSL-2020-046.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in Jira XWiki
- Email us at our security mailing list
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore | all versions | 11.10.5org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore:11.10.5 |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore | ≥ 12.0.0&&< 12.2.1 | 12.2.1org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore:12.2.1 |
Affected Products
xwikixwikiDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore to 11.10.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15171 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-15171 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.