GHSA-2g5c-228j-p52x is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.9) Code Injection vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-tag-ui. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-tag-ui — see the affected versions and patch details below.
XWiki Platform Applications Tag and XWiki Platform Tag UI vulnerable to Eval Injection
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-2g5c-228j-p52x.
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
GHSA-2g5c-228j-p52x plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE sits: patch-first territory.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% 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-tag-ui☕org.xwiki.platform.applications:xwiki-application-tag☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-tag-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
The tags document Main.Tags in XWiki didn't sanitize user inputs properly, allowing users with view rights on the document (default in a public wiki or for authenticated users on private wikis) to execute arbitrary Groovy, Python and Velocity code with programming rights. This allows bypassing all rights checks and thus both modification and disclosure of all content stored in the XWiki installation. Also, this could be used to impact the availability of the wiki. Some versions of XWiki XML-escaped the tag (e.g., version 3.1) but this isn't a serious limitation as string literals can be delimited by / in Groovy and < and > aren't necessary, e.g., to elevate privileges of the current user.
On XWiki versions before 13.10.4 and 14.2, this can be combined with the authentication bypass using the login action, meaning that no rights are required to perform the attack. The following URL demonstrates the attack: <server>/xwiki/bin/login/Main/Tags?xpage=view&do=viewTag&tag=%7B%7Basync+async%3D%22true%22+cached%3D%22false%22+context%3D%22doc.reference%22%7D%7D%7B%7Bgroovy%7D%7Dprintln%28%22hello+from+groovy%21%22%29%7B%7B%2Fgroovy%7D%7D%7B%7B%2Fasync%7D%7D, where <server> is the URL of the XWiki installations.
On current versions (e.g, 14.3), the issue can be exploited by requesting the URL <server>/xwiki/bin/view/Main/Tags?do=viewTag&tag=%7B%7Basync%20async%3D%22true%22%20cached%3D%22false%22%20context%3D%22doc.reference%22%7D%7D%7B%7Bgroovy%7D%7Dprintln(%22hello%20from%20groovy!%22)%7B%7B%2Fgroovy%7D%7D%7B%7B%2Fasync%7D%7D, where <server> is the URL of the server. On XWiki 2.0 (that contains version 1.7 of the tag application), the URL <server>/xwiki/bin/view/Main/Tags?do=viewTag&tag={{/html}}{{groovy}}println(%2Fhello from groovy!%2F){{%2Fgroovy}} demonstrates the exploit while on XWiki 3.1 the following URL demonstrates the exploit: <server>/xwiki/bin/view/Main/Tags?do=viewTag&tag={{/html}}{{footnote}}{{groovy}}println(%2Fhello%20from%20groovy!%2F){{%2Fgroovy}}{{/footnote}}.
Patches
This has been patched in the supported versions 13.10.6 and 14.4.
Workarounds
The patch that fixes the issue can be manually applied to the document Main.Tags or the updated version of that document can be imported from version 14.4 of xwiki-platform-tag-ui using the import feature in the administration UI on XWiki 10.9 and later (earlier versions might not be compatible with the current version of the document).
References
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/604868033ebd191cf2d1e94db336f0c4d9096427
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-19747
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-tag-ui | all versions | 13.10.6org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-tag-ui:13.10.6 |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform.applications:xwiki-application-tag | ≥ 1.7 | No fix |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-tag-ui | ≥ 14.0&&< 14.4 | 14.4org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-tag-ui:14.4 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
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-tag-ui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-tag-ui to 13.10.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-2g5c-228j-p52x 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 GHSA-2g5c-228j-p52x can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-2g5c-228j-p52x. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-2g5c-228j-p52x in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-2g5c-228j-p52x across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.