GHSA-8xhr-x3v8-rghj is a critical-severity (CVSS 9) CWE-284 vulnerability in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api — see the affected versions and patch details below.
XWiki Platform's Groovy jobs check the wrong author, allowing remote code execution
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-8xhr-x3v8-rghj.
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-8xhr-x3v8-rghj 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 377,636 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-scheduler-api☕com.xpn.xwiki.platform.plugins:xwiki-plugin-scheduler☕org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-apiReal-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
XWiki supports scheduled jobs that contain Groovy scripts. Currently, the job checks the content author of the job for programming right. However, modifying or adding a job script to a document doesn't modify the content author. Together with a CSRF vulnerability in the job scheduler, this can be exploited for remote code execution by an attacker with edit right on the wiki.
For successful exploitation, the needs to have edit right on a document whose content has last been changed by a user with programming right. This could be the user profile for users created by admins. In this document, the attacker can create an object of class XWiki.SchedulerJobClass using the object editor. By setting job class to com.xpn.xwiki.plugin.scheduler.GroovyJob, cron expression to 0 0/5 * * * ? and job script to services.logging.getLogger("foo").error("Job content executed"), the attacker can create a job. Now this job just needs to be triggered or scheduled. This can be achieved by embedding an image with the following XWiki syntax in any document that is visited by an admin: [[image:path:/xwiki/bin/view/Scheduler/?do=trigger&which=Attacker.Document]] where Attacker.Document is the document that has been prepared by the attacker. If the attack is successful, an error log entry with "Job content executed" will be produced.
Patches
This vulnerability has been patched in XWiki 14.10.9 and 15.4RC1.
Workarounds
There is no workaround.
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api | all versions | 14.10.9org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api:14.10.9 |
| ☕Maven | com.xpn.xwiki.platform.plugins:xwiki-plugin-scheduler | ≥ 1.3 | No fix |
| ☕Maven | org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api | ≥ 15.0-rc-1&&< 15.4-rc-1 | 15.4-rc-1org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api:15.4-rc-1 |
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-scheduler-api, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api to 14.10.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-8xhr-x3v8-rghj 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-8xhr-x3v8-rghj can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-8xhr-x3v8-rghj. 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-8xhr-x3v8-rghj in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-8xhr-x3v8-rghj across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.