CVE-2023-42498: Liferay Portal Language Override edit screen and Liferay DXP vulnerable to reflected Cross-site Scripting

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 49: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 49% 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.portal:release.portal.bom (Maven) >= 7.4.3.8, <= 7.4.3.97, fixed in 7.4.3.98; com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven) >= 2023.Q3, < 2023.Q3.5, fixed in 2023.Q3.5; com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven) >= 7.4.13.u4, <= 7.4.13.u92, no fixed version listed. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

Reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Language Override edit screen in Liferay Portal 7.4.3.8 through 7.4.3.97, and Liferay DXP 2023.Q3 before patch 5, and 7.4 update 4 through 92 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the comliferayportallanguageoverridewebinternalportletPLOPortletkey parameter.

From the GitHub advisory

Reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Language Override edit screen in Liferay Portal 7.4.3.8 through 7.4.3.97, and Liferay DXP 2023.Q3 before patch 5, and 7.4 update 4 through 92 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the comliferayportallanguageoverridewebinternalportletPLOPortletkey parameter.

Weakness type: CWE-79.

Product: com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom (Maven) · Assigned by: Liferay · Published: 2024-02-21

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): 0.61% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 49.

Timeline

• 2024-02-21 — CVE record published by Liferay
• 2024-02-21 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-73x3-8mrg-5r93 published (critical)
• 2024-08-02 — 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-73x3-8mrg-5r93 github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2023-42498 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2023-42498 nvd.nist.gov

Critical Maven advisories · Today’s Security Digest