CVE-2025-32969 — xwiki-platform-rest-server
Fix: xwiki/xwiki-platform@5c11a87CVE-2025-32969 is a SQL Injection vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server. EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 79.4% (100th percentile). A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server — see the affected versions and patch details below.
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server allows SQL injection in query endpoint of REST API
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-2025-32969.
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.
Real-World Exposure
org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-serverReal-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
It is possible for a remote unauthenticated user to escape from the HQL execution context and perform a blind SQL injection to execute arbitrary SQL statements on the database backend, including when "Prevent unregistered users from viewing pages, regardless of the page rights" and "Prevent unregistered users from editing pages, regardless of the page rights" options are enabled.
Depending on the used database backend, the attacker may be able to not only obtain confidential information such as password hashes from the database, but also execute UPDATE/INSERT/DELETE queries.
The vulnerability may be tested in a default installation of XWIki Standard Flavor, including using the official Docker containers.
An example query, which leads to SQL injection with MySQL/MariaDB backend is shown below:
time curl "http://127.0.0.1:8080/rest/wikis/xwiki/query?q=where%20doc.name=length('a')*org.apache.logging.log4j.util.Chars.SPACE%20or%201%3C%3E%271%5C%27%27%20union%20select%201,2,3,sleep(10)%20%23%27&type=hql&distinct=0"
When executed, the response from the server will come after a delay of 10 extra seconds, indicating successful execution of the injected SQL statement.
An example of a query for the PostgreSQL database backend is shown below:
curl "https://127.0.0.1:8080/rest/wikis/xwiki/query?q=where%20%24%24='%24%24=concat(%20chr(%2061%20),(chr(%2039%20))%20)%20;select%201%20--%20comment'&type=hql&distinct=0"
Both requests employ database backend dependent techniques of breaking out of HQL query context, described, for example, here: https://www.sonarsource.com/blog/exploiting-hibernate-injections.
Patches
This has been patched in 16.10.1, 16.4.6 and 15.10.16.
Workarounds
There is no known workaround, other than upgrading XWiki.
References
https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-22691
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
Attribution
Sergey Anufrienko from Kaspersky ICS-CERT vulnerability research team reported this vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server | ≥ 1.8&&< 15.10.16 | 15.10.16org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server:15.10.16 |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server | ≥ 16.0.0-rc-1&&< 16.4.6 | 16.4.6org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server:16.4.6 |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server | ≥ 16.5.0-rc-1&&< 16.10.1 | 16.10.1org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server:16.10.1 |
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-rest-server, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server to 15.10.16 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-32969 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-2025-32969 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-32969. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
How to detect CVE-2025-32969
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2025-32969 -u https://target- Template
- XWiki REST API Query - SQL Injection
- Severity
- critical
- Impact
- Unauthenticated attackers can execute arbitrary SQL queries through the REST API query endpoint, potentially leading to complete database compromise and data exfiltration.
- Remediation
- Upgrade to the latest XWiki version that properly sanitizes HQL query parameters in the REST API.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (ritikchaddha), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-32969 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-32969 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.