XWiki Platform privilege escalation (PR) from account through AWM content fields

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2023-40177: 1.06% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 64.53 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact Any registered user can use the content field of their user profile page to execute arbitrary scripts with programming rights, thus effectively performing rights escalation. The problem is present since version 4.3M2 when AppWithinMinutes Application added support for the Content field, allowing any wiki page (including the user profile page) to use its content as an AWM Content field, which has a custom displayer that executes the content with the rights of the AppWithinMinutes.Content author, rather than the rights of the content author. Patches The issue has been fixed in XWiki 14.10.5 and 15.1RC1 by https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-platform/commit/dfb1cde173e363ca5c12eb3654869f9719820262 . The fix is in the content of the AppWithinMinutes.Content page that defines the custom displayer. By using the display script service to render the content we make sure that the proper author is used for access rights checks. Workarounds If you want to fix this problem on older versions of…

Published by the source

21 Aug 2023, 20:10 UTC

Last modified by the source

8 Nov 2023, 05:03 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 16:16 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-40177

Advisory: XWiki Platform privilege escalation (PR) from account through AWM content fields
IDs: CVE-2023-40177, GHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-40177 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:16 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.9)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui 14.10.5. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui: affected >= 4.3-milestone-2, < 14.10.5; fixed in 14.10.5

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-5mf8-v43w-mfxp lists affected ranges: Maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-appwithinminutes-ui >=4.3-milestone-2 <14.10.5)

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