How severe is CVE-2023-50721?

CVE-2023-50721 has a CVSS score of 9.9/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-50721?

CVE-2023-50721 affects the following packages: org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-ui (Maven), org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-ui (Maven), org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-ui (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2023-50721?

Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-ui to 14.10.15 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-50721 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-50721 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-search-ui. 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.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-50721 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2023-50721?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-50721 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2023-50721 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2023-50721 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-2023-50721?

CVE-2023-50721 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 78.8%, placing it in the 100th 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. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-50721?

CVE-2023-50721 is classified as Code Injection (CWE-94), CWE-95 (CWE-95). 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-2023-50721 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-50721 was published on December 15, 2023 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2023-50721: XWiki Platform RCE from account through SearchA…

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

78.8%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk100th percentile+35.56%

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.

Blast Radius

3 pkgs affected

☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-ui☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-ui☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-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

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in 4.5-rc-1 and prior to versions 14.10.15, 15.5.2, and 15.7-rc-1, the search administration interface doesn't properly escape the id and label of search user interface extensions, allowing the injection of XWiki syntax containing script macros including Groovy macros that allow remote code execution, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the whole XWiki instance. This attack can be executed by any user who can edit some wiki page like the user's profile (editable by default) as user interface extensions that will be displayed in the search administration can be added on any document by any user. The necessary escaping has been added in XWiki 14.10.15, 15.5.2 and 15.7RC1. As a workaround, the patch can be applied manually applied to the page XWiki.SearchAdmin.

Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-ui`	≥ 4.5-rc-1&&< 14.10.15	14.10.15
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-ui`	≥ 15.0-rc-1&&< 15.5.2	15.5.2
☕Maven	`org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-search-ui`	≥ 15.6-rc-1&&< 15.7-rc-1	15.7-rc-1

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-search-ui. 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-search-ui to 14.10.15 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-50721 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-2023-50721 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-2023-50721. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in 4.5-rc-1 and prior to versions 14.10.15, 15.5.2, and 15.7-rc-1, the search administration interface doesn't properly escape the id and label of search user interface extensions, allowing the injection of XWiki syntax containing script macros including Groovy macros that allow remote code execution, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the whole XWiki instance. This attack can be executed by any user who can edit some wiki page like the user's profile (editable by default) as user interface extensions that will be di

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2023-50721 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2023-50721 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVE-2023-50721