CVE-2023-40573
CRITICALCVE-2023-40573 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9) CWE-284 vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-40573 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
XWiki Platform's Groovy jobs check the wrong author, allowing remote code execution
Blast Radius
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api☕com.xpn.xwiki.platform.plugins:xwiki-plugin-scheduler☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-apiReal-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. XWiki supports scheduled jobs that contain Groovy scripts. Currently, the job checks the content author of the job for programming right. However, modifying or adding a job script to a document doesn't modify the content author. Together with a CSRF vulnerability in the job scheduler, this can be exploited for remote code execution by an attacker with edit right on the wiki. If the attack is successful, an error log entry with "Job content executed" will be produced. This vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 14.10.9 and 15.4RC1.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api | all versions | 14.10.9 |
| ☕Maven | com.xpn.xwiki.platform.plugins:xwiki-plugin-scheduler | ≥ 1.3 | No fix |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api | ≥ 15.0-rc-1&&< 15.4-rc-1 | 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-scheduler-api. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api to 14.10.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-40573 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-40573 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2023-40573. 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-2023-40573 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2023-40573 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.