The XWiki Admin Tools Application provides tools to help the administration of XWiki. Starting in version 4.4 and prior to version 4.5.1, a cross site request forgery vulnerability in the admin tool for executing shell commands on the server allows an attacker to execute arbitrary shell commands by tricking an admin into loading the URL with the shell command. A very simple possibility for an attack are comments. When the attacker can leave a comment on any page in the wiki it is sufficient to include an image with an URL like `/xwiki/bin/view/Admin/RunShellCommand?command=touch%20/tmp/attacked` in the comment. When an admin views the comment, the file `/tmp/attacked` will be created on the server. The output of the command is also vulnerable to XWiki syntax injection which offers a simple way to execute Groovy in the context of the XWiki installation and thus an even easier way to compromise the integrity and confidentiality of the whole XWiki installation. This has been patched by adding a form token check in version 4.5.1 of the admin tools. Some workarounds are available. The patch can be applied manually to the affected wiki pages. Alternatively, the document `Admin.RunShellCommand` can also be deleted if the possibility to run shell commands isn't needed.
This vulnerability carries a CRITICAL severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.6, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from xwiki organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2023, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2023-11-20T18:15:07.630
2024-11-21T08:31:25.193
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 9.6 (CRITICAL)
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | xwiki | admin_tools | < 4.5.1 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For xwiki's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.