XWiki Platform's Groovy jobs check the wrong author, allowing remote code execution

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2023-40573: 1.08% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 65.19 (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 XWiki supports scheduled jobs that contain Groovy scripts. Currently, the job checks the content author of the job for programming right. However, modifying or adding a job script to a document doesn't modify the content author. Together with a CSRF vulnerability in the job scheduler, this can be exploited for remote code execution by an attacker with edit right on the wiki. For successful exploitation, the needs to have edit right on a document whose content has last been changed by a user with programming right. This could be the user profile for users created by admins. In this document, the attacker can create an object of class XWiki.SchedulerJobClass using the object editor. By setting job class to com.xpn.xwiki.plugin.scheduler.GroovyJob, cron expression to 0 0/5 ? and job script to services.logging.getLogger("foo").error("Job content executed"), the attacker can create a job. Now this job just needs to be triggered or scheduled. This can be achieved by embedding an…

Published by the source

23 Aug 2023, 20:41 UTC

Last modified by the source

9 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-8xhr-x3v8-rghj

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-40573

Advisory: XWiki Platform's Groovy jobs check the wrong author, allowing remote code execution
IDs: CVE-2023-40573, GHSA-8xhr-x3v8-rghj
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-40573 (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 9.0)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Partial vendor fix; fixed versions by package: org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api 15.4-rc-1, 14.10.9. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api: affected < 14.10.9; >= 15.0-rc-1, < 15.4-rc-1; fixed in 15.4-rc-1, 14.10.9
- Maven com.xpn.xwiki.platform.plugins:xwiki-plugin-scheduler: affected >= 1.3

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Maven com.xpn.xwiki.platform.plugins:xwiki-plugin-scheduler: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api, com.xpn.xwiki.platform.plugins:xwiki-plugin-scheduler.
- 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-8xhr-x3v8-rghj (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-8xhr-x3v8-rghj lists affected ranges: Maven org.xwiki.platform:xwiki-platform-scheduler-api >=0 =15.0-rc-1 =1.3)

Commands are suggestions: review each one before running it.