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CVE-2025-53835 — Vulnerability in...

CRITICAL

XWiki Rendering is vulnerable to XSS attacks through insecure XHTML syntax

Published July 14, 2025Updated September 10, 2026Source: osv

Summary

### Impact The XHTML syntax depended on the `xdom+xml/current` syntax which allows the creation of raw blocks that permit the insertion of arbitrary HTML content including JavaScript. This allows XSS attacks for users who can edit a document like their user profile (enabled by default). The attack works by setting the document's syntax to `xdom+xml/current` and then inserting content like ``` <document><p><metadata><metadata><entry><string>syntax</string><org.xwiki.rendering.syntax.Syntax><type><name>XHTML</name><id>xhtml</id><variants class="empty-list"></variants></type><version>5</version></org.xwiki.rendering.syntax.Syntax></entry></metadata></metadata></p><rawtext syntax="html/5.0" content="&lt;script&gt;alert(1);&lt;/script&gt;"></rawtext></document> ``` This has been fixed by removing the dependency on the `xdom+xml/current` syntax from the XHTML syntax. Note that the `xdom+xml` syntax is still vulnerable to this attack. As it's main purpose is testing and its use is quite difficult, this syntax shouldn't be installed or used on a regular wiki. We're currently not aware of any further dependencies on it. ### Patches The fix of removing the dependency has been included in XWiki 14.10. It is not released for earlier versions due to the potential breakages, among others this change makes it necessary to update the [Confluence XHTML syntax](https://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/Confluence/Syntax%20XHTML/) as it relies on internals that were changed for the fix. Similar XSS fixes were also not applied to the LTS version 13.10.x due to the potential breakages. ### Workarounds There are no known workarounds apart from upgrading. ### References * https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XRENDERING-660 * https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/commit/a4ca31f99f524b9456c64150d6f375984aa81ea7 ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in [Jira XWiki.org](https://jira.xwiki.org/) * Email us at [Security Mailing List](mailto:security@xwiki.org)

Advisory Timeline

  • First published July 14, 2025 (455 days ago).
  • Last revised September 10, 2026 — 422 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Maven
Update org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-syntax-xhtml to 14.10 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 14.10 for org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-syntax-xhtml -->

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-syntax-xhtml
maven
10.0, 10.1, 10.1-rc-1, 10.10 (+317 more)14.10

Vulnerability Classification

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

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.0 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-53835?
XWiki Rendering is vulnerable to XSS attacks through insecure XHTML syntax This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.0/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2025-53835?
CVE-2025-53835 affects org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-syntax-xhtml. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2025-53835 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
9.0

Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.

Also Known As

GHSA-w3wh-g4m9-783p

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