CVE-2023-45135: XWiki users can be tricked to execute scripts as the create page action doesn't display the page's title

Published Oct 25, 2023
·
Updated

Impact In XWiki, it is possible to pass a title to the page creation action that isn't displayed at first but then executed in the second step. This can be used by an attacker to trick a victim to execute code, allowing script execution if the victim has script right or remote code execution including full access to the XWiki instance if the victim has programming right.

For the attack to work, the attacker needs to convince the victim to visit a link like <xwiki-host>/xwiki/bin/create/NonExistingSpace/WebHome?title=$services.logging.getLogger(%22foo%22).error(%22Script%20executed!%22) where <xwiki-host> is the URL of the Wiki installation and to then click on the "Create" button on that page. The page looks like a regular XWiki page that the victim would also see when clicking the button to create a page that doesn't exist yet, the malicious code is not displayed anywhere on that page. After clicking the "Create" button, the malicious title would be displayed but at this point, the code has already been executed and the attacker could use this code also to hide the attack, e.g., by redirecting the victim again to the same page with an innocent title. It thus seems plausible that this attack could work if the attacker can place a fake "create page" button on a page which is possible with edit right.

Patches This has been patched in XWiki 14.10.2 and 15.5RC1 by displaying the title already in the first step such that the victim can notice the attack before continuing.

Workarounds It is possible to manually patch the modified files from the patch in an existing installation. For the JavaScript change, the minified JavaScript file would need to be obtained from a build of XWiki and replaced accordingly.

Other sources

XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. In org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web versions 7.2-milestone-2 until 14.10.12 and org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates prior to versions 14.10.12 and 15.5-rc-1, it is possible to pass a title to the page creation action that isn't displayed at first but then executed in the second step. This can be used by an attacker to trick a victim to execute code, allowing script execution if the victim has script right or remote code execution including full access to the XWiki instance if the victim has programming right.

For the attack to work, the attacker needs to convince the victim to visit a link like <xwiki-host>/xwiki/bin/create/NonExistingSpace/WebHome?title=$services.logging.getLogger(%22foo%22).error(%22Script%20executed!%22) where <xwiki-host> is the URL of the Wiki installation and to then click on the "Create" button on that page. The page looks like a regular XWiki page that the victim would also see when clicking the button to create a page that doesn't exist yet, the malicious code is not displayed anywhere on that page. After clicking the "Create" button, the malicious title would be displayed but at this point, the code has already been executed and the attacker could use this code also to hide the attack, e.g., by redirecting the victim again to the same page with an innocent title. It thus seems plausible that this attack could work if the attacker can place a fake "create page" button on a page which is possible with edit right.

This has been patched in org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web version 14.10.12 and org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates versions 14.10.12 and 15.5-rc-1 by displaying the title already in the first step such that the victim can notice the attack before continuing. It is possible to manually patch the modified files from the patch in an existing installation. For the JavaScript change, the minified JavaScript file would need to be obtained from a build of XWiki and replaced accordingly.

MITRE

Affected Software

7 affected componentsFixes available
maven/org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web>=7.2-milestone-2<14.10.12
14.10.12
maven/org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates>=15.0-rc-1<15.5-rc-1
15.5-rc-1
maven/org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates<14.10.12
14.10.12
XWiki xwiki>=7.3<14.10.12
XWiki xwiki>=15.0<15.5
XWiki xwiki=7.2-milestone2
XWiki xwiki=7.2-milestone3

Event History

Oct 25, 2023
CVE Published
via MITRE·07:29 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·07:29 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Advisory Published
09:13 PM

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is CVE-2023-45135?

CVE-2023-45135 is a vulnerability in XWiki Platform that allows users to be tricked into executing scripts when creating a page.

2

What is the severity of CVE-2023-45135?

CVE-2023-45135 has a severity rating of 9.1, which is considered critical.

3

Which software versions are affected by CVE-2023-45135?

The vulnerability affects versions 7.2-milestone-2 to 14.10.12 of org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web and versions prior to 14.10.12 and 15.5-rc-1 of org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates.

4

How can I fix CVE-2023-45135?

To fix CVE-2023-45135, update to version 14.10.12 of org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web and version 15.5-rc-1 of org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-web-templates.

5

Is there any additional information about CVE-2023-45135?

Additional information about CVE-2023-45135 can be found in the references: [Reference 1](https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/security/advisories/GHSA-ghf6-2f42-mjh9), [Reference 2](https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/199e27ce7016757e66fa7cea99e718044a1b639b), [Reference 3](https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-20869).

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