CVE-2025-53837: XWiki xwiki-rendering-xml eval injection via HTML macro escaping

CVE-2025-53837 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.9 · Published 2026-09-18

XWiki's rendering engine fails to properly escape output when rendering content within HTML macros, allowing authenticated users to inject and execute arbitrary script code (Groovy, Python) with full system privileges. An attacker with access to edit their user profile or other documents can execute remote code, read and modify all wiki contents, and compromise the entire installation.

Technologies: org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml (Maven). Vendors: Maven, Xwiki.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2025-53837 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2025-53837 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2025-53837?
Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.9, published 18 September 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml (Maven) < 14.10.2, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=14.10.2; Xwiki-Rendering-Xml up to 14.10.1 and 15.0 RC0.
Is there a fix for CVE-2025-53837?
Yes. org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml (Maven): upgrade to 14.10.2 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2025-53837 attacked?
It is attacked over the network.
Am I affected by CVE-2025-53837?
Check whether you run org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml (Maven) or Xwiki-Rendering-Xml at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml (Maven): upgrade to 14.10.2 or later
    # set org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml to 14.10.2 in your pom.xml or build.gradle

Technical details

The vulnerability is an eval injection flaw in the org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-xml component where rendering output is inserted into HTML macros without proper escaping. This allows an attacker to close the HTML macro context and inject nested script macros (e.g., {{groovy}}) that execute with programming rights. The vulnerability affects at minimum XWiki 2.x syntax and is confirmed exploitable in XWiki 3.3 Milestone 1 via user profile editing, and in XWiki 8.3+ via extension points like org.xwiki.platform.search.ui.docdoesnotexist. The attack requires authentication (ability to edit a document), but can be triggered by any user with document editing permissions. Patches are available in XWiki 14.10.2 and 15.0 RC1.

Affected products

  • XWiki xwiki-rendering-xml up to 14.10.1 and 15.0 RC0

Identifiers

  • CVE-2025-53837
  • GHSA-26vp-8gxg-v4pg

Timeline

  • 2026-09-18: disclosed: Advisory published

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