How severe is CVE-2023-40177?

CVE-2023-40177 has a CVSS score of 9.9/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-40177?

CVE-2023-40177 affects the following packages: org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2023-40177?

Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui to 14.10.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-40177 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-40177 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-appwithinminutes-ui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-40177 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is CVE-2023-40177 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2023-40177 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-40177?

CVE-2023-40177 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.1%, placing it in the 65th 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-2023-40177?

CVE-2023-40177 is classified as CWE-95 (CWE-95), Code Injection (CWE-94). These weakness types 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-2023-40177 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-40177 was published on August 23, 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-2023-40177 — xwiki-platform-appwithinm…

CRITICALFix: xwiki/xwiki-platform@dfb1cde

CVE-2023-40177 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.9) CWE-95 vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui. A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui — see the affected versions and patch details below.

XWiki Platform privilege escalation (PR) from account through AWM content fields

Also known asGHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp

Published

Aug 23, 2023

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 6, 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-2023-40177.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs65th percentile — riskier than 65% 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.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-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

Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation.

The problem is present since version 4.3M2 when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the AppWithinMinutes.Content author, rather than the rights of the content author.

Patches

The issue has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1RC1 by https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/dfb1cde173e363ca5c12eb3654869f9719820262 . The fix is in the content of the AppWithinMinutes.Content page that defines the custom displayer. By using the display script service to render the content we make sure that the proper author is used for access rights checks.

Workarounds

If you want to fix this problem on older versions of XWiki that have not been patched then you need to modify the content of AppWithinMinutes.Content page to use the display script service to render the content, like this:

- {{html}}$tdoc.getRenderedContent($tdoc.content, $tdoc.syntax.toIdString()).replace('{{', '&amp;#123;&amp;#123;'){{/html}}
+ {{html}}$services.display.content($tdoc, {
+   'displayerHint': 'default'
+ }).replace('{{/html}}', '&amp;#123;&amp;#123;/html&amp;#125;&amp;#125;'){{/html}}

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

Attribution

This vulnerability has been found and reported by @michitux .

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui`	≥ 4.3-milestone-2&&< 14.10.5	14.10.5`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui:14.10.5`

Affected Products

1 product · 4 configurations

Application

xwikixwiki

≥ 4.3.1 && < 14.10.5

2 versions

4.315.0

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-appwithinminutes-ui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui to 14.10.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-40177 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

### Impact Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation. The problem is present [since version 4.3M2](https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-7369) when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the ``AppWithinMinutes.Content`` author, rather than the rights of the content a