How severe is CVE-2023-29201?

CVE-2023-29201 has a CVSS score of 9/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-29201?

CVE-2023-29201 affects the following packages: org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2023-29201?

Update org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml to 14.6-rc-1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-29201 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-29201 in my Maven dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-29201 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Is CVE-2023-29201 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 4 known exploit references for CVE-2023-29201, including 4 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-2023-29201?

CVE-2023-29201 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.2%, placing it in the 67th 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. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-29201?

CVE-2023-29201 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2023-29201 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-29201 was published on April 15, 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-2023-29201 — xwiki-commons-xml

CRITICALFix: xwiki/xwiki-commons@4a185e0

CVE-2023-29201 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml. 4 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml — see the affected versions and patch details below.

org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml Cross-site Scripting vulnerability

Also known asGHSA-m3jr-cvhj-f35j

Published

Apr 15, 2023

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

4 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 8, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Proof-of-concept exploit code exists

CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-29201.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs67th percentile — riskier than 67% 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

1 pkg affected

☕org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml

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 "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1, only escaped <script> and <style>-tags but neither attributes that can be used to inject scripts nor other dangerous HTML tags like <iframe>. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). An example are anonymous comments in XWiki where the HTML macro filters HTML using restricted mode:

{{html}}
<a href='' onclick='alert(1)'>XSS</a>
{{/html}}

When a privileged user with programming rights visits such a comment in XWiki, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. This allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance.

Patches

This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.6 RC1 with the introduction of a filter with allowed HTML elements and attributes that is enabled in restricted mode.

Workarounds

There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.

References

https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/commit/b11eae9d82cb53f32962056b5faa73f3720c6182 - the patch with the filter
https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/commit/4a185e0594d90cd4916d60aa60bb4333dc5623b2 - the patch with the definitions what is allowed
https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-9118 - the security issue with the HTML macro
https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XCOMMONS-1680 - the issue regarding a definition of what is allowed HTML
https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XCOMMONS-2426 - the issue regarding the filter that fixes the security issue

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue in Jira XWiki
Email us at XWiki Security mailing-list

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml`	≥ 4.2-milestone-1&&< 14.6-rc-1	14.6-rc-1`org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml:14.6-rc-1`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

xwikixwiki

≥ 5.0 && ≤ 14.5

range

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 Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level …

jira.xwiki.orgNVDApr 2023

Report on jira.xwiki.org

jira.xwiki.orgNVDApr 2023

Report on jira.xwiki.org

jira.xwiki.orgNVDApr 2023

Report on github.com

github.comNVDApr 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.commons:xwiki-commons-xml, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml to 14.6-rc-1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-29201 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact The "restricted" mode of the HTML cleaner in XWiki, introduced in version 4.2-milestone-1, only escaped `<script>` and `<style>`-tags but neither attributes that can be used to inject scripts nor other dangerous HTML tags like `<iframe>`. As a consequence, any code relying on this "restricted" mode for security is vulnerable to JavaScript injection ("cross-site scripting"/XSS). An example are anonymous comments in XWiki where the HTML macro filters HTML using restricted mode: ```javascript {{html}} <a href='' onclick='alert(1)'>XSS</a> {{/html}} ``` When a privileged user with pro