CVE-2023-50721 | XWiki Platform RCE from account through SearchAdmin

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in 4.5-rc-1 and prior to versions 14.10.15, 15.5.2, and 15.7-rc-1, the search administration interface doesn't properly escape the id and label of search user interface extensions, allowing the injection of XWiki syntax containing script macros including Groovy macros that allow remote code execution, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the whole XWiki instance. This attack can be executed by any user who can edit some wiki page like the user's profile (editable by default) as user interface extensions that will be displayed in the search administration can be added on any document by any user. The necessary escaping has been added in XWiki 14.10.15, 15.5.2 and 15.7RC1. As a workaround, the patch can be applied manually applied to the page `XWiki.SearchAdmin`.

Published: 2023-12-15 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-50721 is rated High Risk (79.4/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 78.81%, 100th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +40.37% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-50721

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 2026-06-15 38.44% 78.81% +40.37%
2 2026-06-07 43.25% 38.44% -4.81%
3 2026-01-30 43.25%

Full EPSS history (17 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-50721

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.9 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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.
3.1 6.0 [email protected]
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
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.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-50721

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-50721

GHSA-7654-vfh6-rw6x · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: maven — Remote code execution from account through SearchAdmin

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-50721

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
xwiki xwiki >= 4.5, < 14.10.5 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:xwiki:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
xwiki xwiki >= 15.0, < 15.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:xwiki:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
xwiki xwiki 15.6 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:xwiki:15.6:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
xwiki xwiki 15.6 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:xwiki:15.6:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
xwiki xwiki 15.7 cpe:2.3:a:xwiki:xwiki:15.7:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-50721

cvelogic Threat Intelligence