CVE-2025-23025 — xwiki-platform-realtime-w…
CRITICALCVE-2025-23025 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9) CWE-862 vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui. A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Privilege escalation (PR) through realtime WYSIWYG editing in XWiki
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-23025.
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-2025-23025 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 378,156 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-realtime-wysiwyg-ui☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-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
NOTE: The Realtime WYSIWYG Editor extension was experimental, and thus not recommended, in the versions affected by this vulnerability. It has become enabled by default, and thus recommended, starting with XWiki 16.9.0.
A user with only edit right can join a realtime editing session where others, that where already there or that may join later, have script or programming access rights. This user can then insert script rendering macros that are executed for those users in the realtime session that have script or programming rights. The inserted scripts can be used to gain more access rights.
Here's an example that works with XWiki 15.10.9+ and 16.2.0+:
- the attacker starts editing a wiki page in realtime (for which they have edit right)
- another user, with script or programming access right joins the editing session (e.g. by clicking on a link / URL provided by the attacker)
- the attacker inserts a script rendering macro, say
{{velocity}}I can run scripts{{/velocity}}, in the edited content, using the WYSIWYG editor UI - the edited content is reloaded for both the attacker and the other user, in order to render the inserted macro
- the attacker gets a rendering error message
- the other user sees "I can run scripts"
The attacker can obviously use more advanced scripts to gain access rights.
Before XWiki 15.10.9 and 16.2.0 the edited content was not re-rendered for all the users in the editing sesesion, but only for the user that inserted the macro. This means that in order to reproduce the problem the other user had to insert or update a macro or save and view the content.
Patches
This vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 15.10.12, 16.4.1 and 16.6.0-rc-1.
Workarounds
To avoid this vulnerability you can:
- either disable the realtime WYSIWYG editing by disabling the
xwiki-realtimeCKEditor plugin from the WYSIWYG editor administration section - or uninstall the Realtime WYSIWYG Editor extension (org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui)
References
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
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui | ≥ 13.9-rc-1&&< 15.10.12 | 15.10.12org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui:15.10.12 |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui | ≥ 16.0.0-rc-1&&< 16.4.1 | 16.4.1org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui:16.4.1 |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui | ≥ 16.5.0-rc-1&&< 16.6.0-rc-1 | 16.6.0-rc-1org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui:16.6.0-rc-1 |
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-realtime-wysiwyg-ui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-realtime-wysiwyg-ui to 15.10.12 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-23025 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-2025-23025 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-23025. 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-2025-23025 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-23025 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.