CVE-2023-36471 | HTML sanitizer allows form elements in restricted in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml

Exp

Xwiki commons is the common modules used by other XWiki top level projects. The HTML sanitizer that is included in XWiki since version 14.6RC1 allowed form and input HTML tags. In the context of XWiki, this allows an attacker without script right to either create forms that can be used for phishing attacks or also in the context of a sheet, the attacker could add an input like `{{html}}<input type="hidden" name="content" value="{{groovy}}println(&quot;Hello from Groovy!&quot;)" />{{/html}}` that would allow remote code execution when it is submitted by an admin (the sheet is rendered as part of the edit form). The attacker would need to ensure that the edit form looks plausible, though, which can be non-trivial as without script right the attacker cannot display the regular content of the document. This has been patched in XWiki 14.10.6 and 15.2RC1 by removing the central form-related tags from the list of allowed tags. Users are advised to upgrade. As a workaround an admin can manually disallow the tags by adding `form, input, select, textarea, button` to the configuration option `xml.htmlElementSanitizer.forbidTags` in the `xwiki.properties` configuration file.

Published: 2023-06-29 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-36471 is rated High Exploit Risk (77.5/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.92%). Core evidence: 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2023-36471

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-36471

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-25 1.07% 0.92% -0.15%
2 2026-03-24 0.81% 1.07% +0.26%
3 2025-11-21 0.81%

Full EPSS history (17 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-36471

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.0 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.3 6.0 [email protected]
5.4 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.3 2.7 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-36471

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-36471

GHSA-6pqf-c99p-758v · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: maven — org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml's HTML sanitizer allows form elements in restricted

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-36471

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
xwiki commons >= 14.6, < 14.10.6 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:commons:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
xwiki commons 15.0 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:commons:15.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
xwiki commons 15.0 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:commons:15.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
xwiki commons 15.1 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:commons:15.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
xwiki commons 15.1 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:commons:15.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-36471

cvelogic Threat Intelligence