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CVE-2023-37908 — Vulnerability in...

CRITICAL

org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml Improper Neutralization of Invalid Characters in Identifiers in Web Pages vulnerability

Published October 25, 2023Updated February 4, 2026Source: osv

Summary

### Impact The cleaning of attributes during XHTML rendering, introduced in version 14.6-rc-1, allowed the injection of arbitrary HTML code and thus cross-site scripting via invalid attribute names. This can be exploited, e.g., via the link syntax in any content that supports XWiki syntax like comments in XWiki: ``` [[Link1>>https://XWiki.example.com||/onmouseover="alert('XSS1')"]] ``` When a user moves the mouse over this link, the malicious JavaScript code is executed in the context of the user session. When this user is a privileged user who has programming rights, this allows server-side code execution with programming rights, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the XWiki instance. While this attribute was correctly recognized as not allowed, the attribute was still printed with a prefix `data-xwiki-translated-attribute-` without further cleaning or validation. Note that while versions below 14.6 are not vulnerable to this particular vulnerability, they are still vulnerable to XSS through attributes in XWiki syntax, see [the corresponding advisory](https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/security/advisories/GHSA-6gf5-c898-7rxp). ### Patches This problem has been patched in XWiki 14.10.4 and 15.0 RC1 by removing characters not allowed in data attributes and then validating the cleaned attribute again. ### Workarounds There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix. ### References * https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XRENDERING-697 * https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/commit/f4d5acac451dccaf276e69f0b49b72221eef5d2f ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in [Jira XWiki](https://jira.xwiki.org/) * Email us at [XWiki Security mailing-list](mailto:security@xwiki.org)

Advisory Timeline

  • First published October 25, 2023 (1083 days ago).
  • Last revised February 4, 2026 — 832 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Maven
Update org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml to 14.10.4 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 14.10.4 for org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml -->

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (1)

Affects 1 ecosystem: maven (1).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml
maven
14.10, 14.10.1, 14.10.2, 14.10.3 (+8 more)14.10.4

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.6 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-37908?
org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml Improper Neutralization of Invalid Characters in Identifiers in Web Pages vulnerability This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.6/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2023-37908?
CVE-2023-37908 affects org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2023-37908 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
9.6

Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.

Also Known As

GHSA-663w-2xp3-5739

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