This is not an issue with firewall configuration, nor is it related to the thread that JonB linked to. Under the UNIX system that forms the basis of Mac OS X, there is a hidden user called the superuser, or root user, who has unrestricted access to the computer. Users who are Administrators on a Mac can run tasks as the root user, but in order to do this, they must provide their password in the Mac OS security box (for instance, you often have to do this when running system updates or installing software).
Another thing about the UNIX system, and therefore Mac OS X, is that it impossible to bind to port 80, the port typically used by web servers, without being root. Therefore, XAMPP (or more specifically, the Apache web server that XAMPP uses) won't be able to run without root privileges.
So really, the only way around this is to run the XAMPP Control application itself as root. There's no way to make it automatically run as root, but you can try launching it as root using something like
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/38617/launchasroot. Alternatively, you can use the command line, e.g. going to Terminal and typing:
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sudo "/Applications/XAMPP/XAMPP Control.app/Contents/MacOS/XAMPP Control"
Either way, you'll have to type in your password once, but after that you can start and stop the servers as much as you like without having to retype the password.