CVE-2023-40572 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9) Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore — see the affected versions and patch details below.
XWiki Platform vulnerable to CSRF privilege escalation/RCE via the create action
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-2023-40572 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 377,166 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-oldcore☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcoreReal-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 Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. The create action is vulnerable to a CSRF attack, allowing script and thus remote code execution when targeting a user with script/programming right, thus compromising the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the whole XWiki installation. When a user with script right views this image and a log message ERROR foo - Script executed! appears in the log, the XWiki installation is vulnerable. This has been patched in XWiki 14.10.9 and 15.4RC1 by requiring a CSRF token for the actual page creation.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore | ≥ 3.2-milestone-3&&< 14.10.9 | 14.10.9org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore:14.10.9 |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore | ≥ 15.0-rc-1&&< 15.4-rc-1 | 15.4-rc-1org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore:15.4-rc-1 |
Research 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.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore to 14.10.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-40572 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-2023-40572 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-40572. 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-2023-40572 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-40572 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.