CVE-2023-42497: Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP Vulnerable to Reflected XSS via the Export for Translation Page

Should you act?

Critical and remotely reachable

No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
• EPSS 0.6%, percentile 46: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 46% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Needs a user to click or open something. Phishing makes that realistic, but it is not wormable.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes com.liferay:com.liferay.translation.web (Maven) < 2.0.86, fixed in 2.0.86; com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven) >= 7.4.0, < 7.4.13.u86, fixed in 7.4.13.u86. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

Reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability on the Export for Translation page in Liferay Portal 7.4.3.4 through 7.4.3.85, and Liferay DXP 7.4 before update 86 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the comliferaytranslationwebinternalportletTranslationPortletredirect parameter.

From the GitHub advisory

Reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability on the Export for Translation page before 2.0.86 from Liferay Portal (7.4.3.4 through 7.4.3.85), and Liferay DXP 7.4 before update 86 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the comliferaytranslationwebinternalportletTranslationPortletredirect parameter.

Weakness type: CWE-79.

Product: com.liferay:com.liferay.translation.web (Maven) · Assigned by: Liferay · Published: 2023-10-17

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Privileges required: none (no login)
• User interaction: required (a user must click/open something)
• Scope: changed (can affect other components)

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

• CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
• CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, automatable no, technical impact partial.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.57% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 46.

Timeline

• 2023-10-17 — CVE record published by Liferay
• 2023-10-17 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-w2g3-j73q-7qv7 published (critical)
• 2024-09-13 — CVE record last updated

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Vendor and project advisories, patches

1. liferay.dev liferay.dev

Vulnerability records

1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-w2g3-j73q-7qv7 github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2023-42497 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2023-42497 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. liferay.dev liferay.dev

Critical Maven advisories · Today’s Security Digest