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XWiki Commons missing escaping of `{` in Velocity escapetool allows remote code executionGHSA-hf43-47q4-fhq5

CRITICALFix: xwiki/xwiki-commons@b080516

GHSA-hf43-47q4-fhq5 is a critical-severity (CVSS 10) CWE-95 vulnerability in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Also known asCVE-2024-31996
Published
Updated
Affected
3 pkgs
Patched
3 / 3
Exploits
2 known
Exploitation data as of Nov 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

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.
  • 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.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-hf43-47q4-fhq5.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
2.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs82th percentile — riskier than 82% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.32%3.49%6.66%9.83%8.1%2.1%May 26Sep 26Nov 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

3 pkgs affected
☕org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity☕org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity☕org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity

Real-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 HTML escaping of escaping tool that is used in XWiki doesn't escape {, which, when used in certain places, allows XWiki syntax injection and thereby remote code execution.

To reproduce in an XWiki installation, open <xwiki-host>/xwiki/bin/view/Panels/PanelLayoutUpdate?place=%7B%7B%2Fhtml%7D%7D%7B%7Basync%20async%3Dfalse%7D%7D%7B%7Bvelocity%7D%7D%23evaluate(%24request.eval)%7B%7B%2Fvelocity%7D%7D%7B%7B%2Fasync%7D%7D&eval=Hello%20from%20URL%20Parameter!%20I%20got%20programming%3A%20%24services.security.authorization.hasAccess(%27programming%27) where <xwiki-host> is the URL of your XWiki installation. If this displays You are not admin on this place Hello from URL Parameter! I got programming: true, the installation is vulnerable.

Patches

The vulnerability has been fixed on XWiki 14.10.19, 15.5.5, and 15.9 RC1.

Workarounds

Apart from upgrading, there is no generic workaround. However, replacing $escapetool.html by $escapetool.xml in XWiki documents fixes the vulnerability. In a standard XWiki installation, we're only aware of the document Panels.PanelLayoutUpdate that exposes this vulnerability, patching this document is thus a workaround. Any extension could expose this vulnerability and might thus require patching, too.

References

Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
☕Mavenorg.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity≥ 3.0.1&&< 14.10.1914.10.19org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity:14.10.19
☕Mavenorg.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity≥ 15.0-rc-1&&< 15.5.415.5.4org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity:15.5.4
☕Mavenorg.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity≥ 15.6-rc-1&&< 15.9-rc-115.9-rc-1org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity:15.9-rc-1

Affected Products

1 product · 3 configurations
Application
xwikixwiki
≥ 15.6 && < 15.9
range
Exploits & PoCs
2

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 dependency
  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-velocity to 14.10.19 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-hf43-47q4-fhq5 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact The HTML escaping of escaping tool that is used in XWiki doesn't escape `{`, which, when used in certain places, allows XWiki syntax injection and thereby remote code execution. To reproduce in an XWiki installation, open `<xwiki-host>/xwiki/bin/view/Panels/PanelLayoutUpdate?place=%7B%7B%2Fhtml%7D%7D%7B%7Basync%20async%3Dfalse%7D%7D%7B%7Bvelocity%7D%7D%23evaluate(%24request.eval)%7B%7B%2Fvelocity%7D%7D%7B%7B%2Fasync%7D%7D&eval=Hello%20from%20URL%20Parameter!%20I%20got%20programming%3A%20%24services.security.authorization.hasAccess(%27programming%27)` where `<xwiki-host>` is the URL
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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XWiki Commons missing escaping of `{` in Velocity…