CVE-2023-50721
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedXWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in 4.5-rc-1 and prior to versions 14.10.15, 15.5.2, and 15.7-rc-1, the search administration interface doesn't properly escape the id and label of search user interface extensions, allowing the injection of XWiki syntax containing script macros including Groovy macros that allow remote code execution, impacting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the whole XWiki instance. This attack can be executed by any user who can edit some wiki page like the user's profile (editable by default) as user interface extensions that will be displayed in the search administration can be added on any document by any user. The necessary escaping has been added in XWiki 14.10.15, 15.5.2 and 15.7RC1. As a workaround, the patch can be applied manually applied to the page `XWiki.SearchAdmin`.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysisThe application evaluates attacker-influenced input as code, handing them a way to run logic inside the process. Depending on the runtime this can escalate directly to remote code execution. Remediation means removing dynamic evaluation of untrusted input and replacing it with safe, data-driven alternatives.
General guidance for the code injection class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data>= 4.5, < 14.10.5>= 15.0, < 15.5.2= 15.6= 15.7CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped14.10.515.5.2
XWiki 14.10.15+ (for 14.10.x branch) or XWiki 15.10+ (latest stable, for 15.x branch)
- 1. Back up your XWiki database and configuration files before upgrading.
- 2. Identify your current XWiki version from the affected list (14.10.x, 15.0-15.4.x, 15.6, or 15.7).
- 3. For XWiki 14.10.x (versions >= 4.5, < 14.10.5): Upgrade to XWiki 14.10.15 or later (recommended: latest 14.10.x stable).
- 4. For XWiki 15.0-15.4.x (versions >= 15.0, < 15.5.2): Upgrade to XWiki 15.5.2 or later (recommended: latest 15.x stable).
- 5. For XWiki 15.6: Upgrade to XWiki 15.7RC1 or later (recommended: latest 15.x stable).
- 6. For XWiki 15.7: Upgrade to the latest available XWiki 15.x stable release (e.g., 15.10.x or newer).
- 7. After upgrading, verify the search administration interface works correctly and test that the patch is applied.
- 8. As an alternative manual workaround, edit the page `XWiki.SearchAdmin` and apply proper escaping to the id and label fields of search user interface extensions to prevent XWiki syntax injection.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-50721 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-50721 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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