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
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
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2023-40177 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-uiReal-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, $tdoc.syntax.toIdString()).replace('{{', '&#123;&#123;'){{/html}}
+ {{html}}$services.display.content($tdoc, {
+ 'displayerHint': 'default'
+ }).replace('{{/html}}', '&#123;&#123;/html&#125;&#125;'){{/html}}
References
- JIRA issue https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-19906
- Fix https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/dfb1cde173e363ca5c12eb3654869f9719820262
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
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui | ≥ 4.3-milestone-2&&< 14.10.5 | 14.10.5org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui:14.10.5 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2023-40177 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-40177. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-40177 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-40177 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.