CVE-2023-48292 — xwiki-application-adminto…
CRITICALFix: xwiki-contrib/application-admintools@03815c5CVE-2023-48292 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.6) Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in org.xwiki.contrib:xwiki-application-admintools. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.xwiki.contrib:xwiki-application-admintools — see the affected versions and patch details below.
XWiki Admin Tools Application Run Shell Command allows CSRF RCE attacks
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.contrib:xwiki-application-admintoolsReal-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
The XWiki Admin Tools Application provides tools to help the administration of XWiki. Starting in version 4.4 and prior to version 4.5.1, a cross site request forgery vulnerability in the admin tool for executing shell commands on the server allows an attacker to execute arbitrary shell commands by tricking an admin into loading the URL with the shell command. A very simple possibility for an attack are comments. When the attacker can leave a comment on any page in the wiki it is sufficient to include an image with an URL like /xwiki/bin/view/Admin/RunShellCommand?command=touch%20/tmp/attacked in the comment. When an admin views the comment, the file /tmp/attacked will be created on the server. The output of the command is also vulnerable to XWiki syntax injection which offers a simple way to execute Groovy in the context of the XWiki installation and thus an even easier way to compromise the integrity and confidentiality of the whole XWiki installation. This has been patched by adding a form token check in version 4.5.1 of the admin tools. Some workarounds are available. The patch can be applied manually to the affected wiki pages. Alternatively, the document Admin.RunShellCommand can also be deleted if the possibility to run shell commands isn't needed.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.contrib:xwiki-application-admintools | ≥ 4.4&&< 4.5.1 | 4.5.1org.xwiki.contrib:xwiki-application-admintools:4.5.1 |
Affected Products
admin toolsxwikiResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
XWiki Standard 14.10 - Remote Code Execution (RCE)
by Mehran Seifalinia · Mar 29, 2025
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.xwiki.contrib:xwiki-application-admintools, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.contrib:xwiki-application-admintools to 4.5.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-48292 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-48292 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.