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Critical severityNVD Advisory· Published Jul 14, 2025· Updated Jul 15, 2025

XWiki Rendering is vulnerable to RCE attacks when processing nested macros

CVE-2025-53836

Description

XWiki Rendering is a generic rendering system that converts textual input in a given syntax (wiki syntax, HTML, etc) into another syntax (XHTML, etc). Starting in version 4.2-milestone-1 and prior to versions 13.10.11, 14.4.7, and 14.10, the default macro content parser doesn't preserve the restricted attribute of the transformation context when executing nested macros. This allows executing macros that are normally forbidden in restricted mode, in particular script macros. The cache and chart macros that are bundled in XWiki use the vulnerable feature. This has been patched in XWiki 13.10.11, 14.4.7 and 14.10. To avoid the exploitation of this bug, comments can be disabled for untrusted users until an upgrade to a patched version has been performed. Note that users with edit rights will still be able to add comments via the object editor even if comments have been disabled.

Affected packages

Versions sourced from the GitHub Security Advisory.

PackageAffected versionsPatched versions
org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-transformation-macroMaven
>= 4.2-milestone-1, < 13.10.1113.10.11
org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-transformation-macroMaven
>= 14.0, < 14.4.714.4.7
org.xwiki.rendering:xwiki-rendering-transformation-macroMaven
>= 14.5, < 14.1014.10

Affected products

1

Patches

1
c73fa3ccd4ac

XRENDERING-689: Default macro content parser doesn't preserve restricted contexts

https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-renderingMichael HamannNov 21, 2022via ghsa
commit
2 files changed · +25 −2
  • xwiki-rendering-transformations/xwiki-rendering-transformation-macro/src/main/java/org/xwiki/rendering/internal/macro/DefaultMacroContentParser.java+3 −1 modified
    @@ -129,7 +129,9 @@ private XDOM createXDOM(String content, MacroTransformationContext macroContext,
 
             // Execute the content
             if (transform && macroContext.getTransformation() != null) {
-                TransformationContext txContext = new TransformationContext(result, syntax);
+                TransformationContext wrappingContext = macroContext.getTransformationContext();
+                boolean isRestricted = wrappingContext != null && wrappingContext.isRestricted();
+                TransformationContext txContext = new TransformationContext(result, syntax, isRestricted);
                 txContext.setId(macroContext.getId());
                 performTransformation((MutableRenderingContext) this.renderingContext, macroContext.getTransformation(),
                     txContext, result);
  • xwiki-rendering-transformations/xwiki-rendering-transformation-macro/src/test/java/org/xwiki/rendering/internal/macro/DefaultMacroContentParserTest.java+22 −1 modified
    @@ -39,13 +39,15 @@
 import org.xwiki.rendering.transformation.MacroTransformationContext;
 import org.xwiki.rendering.transformation.RenderingContext;
 import org.xwiki.rendering.transformation.Transformation;
+import org.xwiki.rendering.transformation.TransformationContext;
 import org.xwiki.test.annotation.ComponentList;
 import org.xwiki.test.junit5.mockito.ComponentTest;
 import org.xwiki.test.junit5.mockito.InjectMockComponents;
 import org.xwiki.test.junit5.mockito.MockComponent;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.argThat;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
@@ -108,7 +110,26 @@ void parseInlineWithStandaloneMacroWithTransformations() throws Exception
 
         this.macroContentParser.parse("content", this.macroContext, true, true);
 
-        verify((MutableRenderingContext) this.renderingContext).transformInContext(any(), any(),
+        verify((MutableRenderingContext) this.renderingContext).transformInContext(any(),
+            argThat(context -> !context.isRestricted()),
             eq(new XDOM(Arrays.<Block>asList(new MacroBlock("macro", Collections.emptyMap(), null, true)))));
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void parseInlineWithStandaloneMacroWithRestrictedTransformations() throws Exception
+    {
+        when(this.mockParser.parse(any(Reader.class)))
+            .thenReturn(
+                new XDOM(Collections.singletonList(new MacroBlock("macro", Collections.emptyMap(), null, false))));
+
+        this.macroContext.setTransformation(mock(Transformation.class));
+        this.macroContext.getTransformationContext().setRestricted(true);
+
+        this.macroContentParser.parse("content", this.macroContext, true, true);
+
+        verify((MutableRenderingContext) this.renderingContext).transformInContext(
+            any(), argThat(TransformationContext::isRestricted),
+            eq(new XDOM(Collections.singletonList(new MacroBlock("macro", Collections.emptyMap(), null, true))))
+        );
+    }
 }

Vulnerability mechanics

Generated by null/stub on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.

References

6

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