org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore makes Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs with DocumentAuthors

CVE-2023-29507 → View on GitHub ↗ View on CVE.org ↗ View on NVD ↗

Description

Impact

The Document script API returns directly a DocumentAuthors allowing to set any authors to the document, which in consequence can allow subsequent executions of scripts since this author is used for checking rights.
Example of such attack:

{{velocity}}
$doc.setContent('{{velocity}}$xcontext.context.authorReference{{/velocity}}')
$doc.authors.setContentAuthor('xwiki:XWiki.superadmin')
$doc.getRenderedContent()
{{/velocity}}

Patches

The problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10 and 14.4.7 by returning a safe script API.

Workarounds

There no easy workaround apart of upgrading.

References

  • https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20380
  • https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/905cdd7c421dbf8c565557cdc773ab1aa9028f83

For more information

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Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
critical
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2023-04-12 20:36:28 UTC
Updated
2025-02-06 20:02:25 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2023-04-12 20:36:28 UTC
NVD published
2023-04-16

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
3.25% 87.14%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
9.1 3.1 —
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-pwfv-3cvg-9m4c ↗
CVE CVE-2023-29507 ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-648 Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs

Credits

  • tmortagne (analyst)

Affected packages (2)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore >= 14.5, < 14.10 14.10 —
maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-oldcore >= 14.4.1, < 14.4.7 14.4.7 —

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence