How severe is CVE-2023-35166?

CVE-2023-35166 has a CVSS score of 9.9/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-35166?

CVE-2023-35166 affects the following packages: org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui (Maven), org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2023-35166?

Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui to 14.10.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-35166 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-35166 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-help-ui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-35166 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

Is CVE-2023-35166 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2023-35166, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation 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-2023-35166?

CVE-2023-35166 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 62.2%, 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-2023-35166?

CVE-2023-35166 is classified as CWE-863 (CWE-863). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2023-35166 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-35166 was published on June 20, 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-2023-35166 — xwiki-platform-help-ui

CRITICALFix: xwiki/xwiki-platform@98208c5

CVE-2023-35166 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.9) CWE-863 vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Privilege escalation (PR) from account through TipsPanel

Also known asGHSA-h7cw-44vp-jq7h

Published

Jun 20, 2023

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 3, 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-2023-35166.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

62.2%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

2 pkgs affected

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

It's possible to execute any wiki content with the right of the TipsPanel author by creating a tip UI extension.

To reproduce:

Add an object of type UIExtensionClass
Set "Extension Point ID" to org.xwiki.platform.help.tipsPanel
Set "Extension ID" to org.xwiki.platform.user.test (needs to be unique but otherwise doesn't matter)

Set "Extension Parameters" to

tip={{async async="true" cached="false" context="doc.reference"}}{{groovy}}println("Hello " + "from groovy!"){{/groovy}}{{/async}}

Set "Extension Scope" to "Current User".
Click "Save & View"
Open the "Help.TipsPanel" document at <xwiki-host>/xwiki/bin/view/Help/TipsPanel where <xwiki-host> is the URL of your XWiki installation and press refresh repeatedly.

The groovy macro is executed, after the fix you get an error instead.

Patches

This has been patched in XWiki 15.1-rc-1 and 14.10.5.

Workarounds

There are no known workarounds for it.

References

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

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui`	≥ 8.1-milestone-1&&< 14.10.5	14.10.5`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui:14.10.5`
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui`	≥ 15.0-rc-1&&< 15.1-rc-1	15.1-rc-1`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui:15.1-rc-1`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

xwikixwiki

≥ 8.1 && < 14.10.5

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 Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for …

jira.xwiki.orgNVDJun 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-help-ui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-help-ui to 14.10.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-35166 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact It's possible to execute any wiki content with the right of the TipsPanel author by creating a tip UI extension. To reproduce: * Add an object of type UIExtensionClass * Set "Extension Point ID" to org.xwiki.platform.help.tipsPanel * Set "Extension ID" to org.xwiki.platform.user.test (needs to be unique but otherwise doesn't matter) * Set "Extension Parameters" to ``` tip={{async async="true" cached="false" context="doc.reference"}}{{groovy}}println("Hello " + "from groovy!"){{/groovy}}{{/async}} ``` * Set "Extension Scope" to "Current User". * Click "Save & View" * Op