CVE-2023-36471 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9) CWE-74 vulnerability in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml. 2 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.
HTML sanitizer allows form elements in restricted in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml
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-2023-36471.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml☕org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xmlReal-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
Xwiki commons is the common modules used by other XWiki top level projects. The HTML sanitizer that is included in XWiki since version 14.6RC1 allowed form and input HTML tags. In the context of XWiki, this allows an attacker without script right to either create forms that can be used for phishing attacks or also in the context of a sheet, the attacker could add an input like {{html}}<input type="hidden" name="content" value="{{groovy}}println("Hello from Groovy!")" />{{/html}} that would allow remote code execution when it is submitted by an admin (the sheet is rendered as part of the edit form). The attacker would need to ensure that the edit form looks plausible, though, which can be non-trivial as without script right the attacker cannot display the regular content of the document. This has been patched in XWiki 14.10.6 and 15.2RC1 by removing the central form-related tags from the list of allowed tags. Users are advised to upgrade. As a workaround an admin can manually disallow the tags by adding form, input, select, textarea, button to the configuration option xml.htmlElementSanitizer.forbidTags in the xwiki.properties configuration file.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml | ≥ 14.6-rc-1&&< 14.10.6 | 14.10.6org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml:14.10.6 |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml | ≥ 15.0-rc-1&&< 15.2-rc-1 | 15.2-rc-1org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml:15.2-rc-1 |
Affected Products
commonsxwikiResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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 14.10.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-36471 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
Is CVE-2023-36471 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.