CVE-2023-37908: Xwiki rendering xml Xwiki-rendering-xml Improper Neutralization Of Invalid Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-663w-2xp3-5739
CVSS 9.6
CWE-79 CWE-86 CWE-83
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-37908 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.6) xwiki-rendering-xml improper neutralization of invalid vulnerability (CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')) affecting Xwiki rendering xml libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves xwiki-rendering-xml improper neutralization of invalid characters in identifiers in web pages vulnerability. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 14.10.4.

CVE-2023-37908 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-37908
GHSA Identifier GHSA-663w-2xp3-5739
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.6
CWE Classification CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Affected Product Xwiki rendering xml
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.6

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2023-37908

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Xwiki rendering xml dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml fixed: 14.10.4
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.xwiki.rendering</groupId>
    <artifactId>xwiki-rendering-xml</artifactId>
    <version>14.10.4</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.xwiki.rendering

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2023-37908, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.xwiki.rendering

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Xwiki rendering xml in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 14.10.4), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.xwiki.rendering command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'), where the product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. In Xwiki rendering xml, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### 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)

CVE-2023-37908 Affected Xwiki rendering xml Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
14.10.4
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml
Maven
≥ 14.6-rc-1
< 14.10.4
14.10.4

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-37908?
CVE-2023-37908 is a security vulnerability in Xwiki rendering xml involving xwiki-rendering-xml Improper Neutralization of Invalid Characters in Identifiers in Web Pages vulnerability under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting').
Which Xwiki rendering xml versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 14.10.4 across affected packages: org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml.
What version fixes CVE-2023-37908?
Upgrading to 14.10.4 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is xwiki-rendering-xml affected?
Yes, org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml is affected in releases prior to 14.10.4. Upgrade your dependency to 14.10.4 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-37908?
CVE-2023-37908 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.6 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-37908?
CVE-2023-37908 is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') (The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2023-37908?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.xwiki.rendering'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-663w-2xp3-5739",
  "modified" : "2023-11-01T06:06:17Z",
  "published" : "2023-10-25T21:02:49Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-37908" ],
  "summary" : "org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml Improper Neutralization of Invalid Characters in Identifiers in Web Pages vulnerability",
  "details" : "### Impact\nThe 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: \n\n```\n[[Link1>>https://XWiki.example.com||/onmouseover=\"alert('XSS1')\"]]\n```\n\nWhen 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.\n\nWhile 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.\n\nNote 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).\n\n### Patches\nThis 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.\n\n### Workarounds\nThere are no known workarounds apart from upgrading to a version including the fix.\n\n### References\n* https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XRENDERING-697\n* https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/commit/f4d5acac451dccaf276e69f0b49b72221eef5d2f\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open an issue in [Jira XWiki](https://jira.xwiki.org/)\n* Email us at [XWiki Security mailing-list](mailto:security@xwiki.org)\n",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "14.6-rc-1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.4"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/security/advisories/GHSA-663w-2xp3-5739"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/security/advisories/GHSA-6gf5-c898-7rxp"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-37908"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/commit/f4d5acac451dccaf276e69f0b49b72221eef5d2f"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XRENDERING-697"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-79", "CWE-83", "CWE-86" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-10-25T21:02:49Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-10-25T18:17:28Z"
  }
}