How severe is CVE-2023-26475?

CVE-2023-26475 has a CVSS score of 9.9/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-26475?

CVE-2023-26475 affects the following packages: org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui (Maven), org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui (Maven), org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2023-26475?

Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui to 13.10.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-26475 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-26475 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-26475 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.

Is CVE-2023-26475 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 2 known exploit references for CVE-2023-26475, including 2 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-26475?

CVE-2023-26475 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 63.6%, placing it in the 99th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-26475?

CVE-2023-26475 is classified as Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269), CWE-270 (CWE-270). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2023-26475 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-26475 was published on March 2, 2023 and was last updated on October 28, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕

☕ Maven

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

CVE-2023-26475 — xwiki-platform-annotation…

CRITICALFix: xwiki/xwiki-platform@d87d7bf

CVE-2023-26475 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.9) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui — see the affected versions and patch details below.

XWiki Platform vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in Annotations

Also known asGHSA-h6f5-8jj5-cxhr

Published

Mar 2, 2023

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

3 pkgs

Patched

3 / 3

Exploits

2 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 7, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-26475.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

63.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs99th percentile — riskier than 99% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

3 pkgs affected

☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui

Real-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

The annotation displayer does not execute the content in a restricted context. This allows executing anything with the right of the author of any document by annotating the document.

To reproduce: add an annotation with the content {{groovy}}print "hello"{{/groovy}} and click the yellow scare to get a display of the annotation inline.

The result is "hello" but it should be an error suggesting that it's not allowed to use the groovy macro.

Patches

This has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10.

Workarounds

There is no easy workaround except to upgrade.

References

https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20360

https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20384

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

This vulnerability has been reported by René de Sain @renniepak.

Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui`	≥ 2.3-milestone-1&&< 13.10.11	13.10.11`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui:13.10.11`
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui`	≥ 14.0-rc-1&&< 14.4.7	14.4.7`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui:14.4.7`
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui`	≥ 14.5&&< 14.10	14.10`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui:14.10`

Affected Products

1 product · 4 configurations

Application

xwikixwiki

≥ 14.5 && < 14.10

1 version

2.3

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in version 2.3-miles…

jira.xwiki.orgNVDMar 2023

Report on github.com

github.comNVDMar 2023

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-annotation-ui to 13.10.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-26475 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact The annotation displayer does not execute the content in a restricted context. This allows executing anything with the right of the author of any document by annotating the document. To reproduce: add an annotation with the content `{{groovy}}print "hello"{{/groovy}}` and click the yellow scare to get a display of the annotation inline. The result is "hello" but it should be an error suggesting that it's not allowed to use the groovy macro. ### Patches This has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10. ### Workarounds There is no easy workaround except to upgrade. ###