CVE-2023-42497
📋 TL;DR
This reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into the Export for Translation page of affected Liferay systems. When exploited, it can enable session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. Organizations using Liferay Portal 7.4.3.4 through 7.4.3.85 or Liferay DXP 7.4 before update 86 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Liferay Portal
- Liferay DXP
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete account takeover, administrative privilege escalation, data exfiltration, or deployment of ransomware through successful XSS exploitation leading to arbitrary code execution.
Likely Case
Session hijacking, credential theft, defacement, or redirection to phishing sites targeting authenticated users.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper input validation, output encoding, and Content Security Policy (CSP) headers in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Reflected XSS typically requires user interaction (clicking a malicious link) but is straightforward to exploit once the vulnerability is identified.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Liferay Portal 7.4.3.86+, Liferay DXP 7.4 update 86+
Vendor Advisory: https://liferay.dev/portal/security/known-vulnerabilities/-/asset_publisher/jekt/content/cve-2023-42497
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download the appropriate patch from Liferay's customer portal. 2. Apply the patch following Liferay's patch installation guide. 3. Restart the Liferay server. 4. Verify the fix by testing the vulnerable parameter.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Web Application Firewall (WAF) Rule
allBlock or sanitize requests containing malicious script patterns in the _com_liferay_translation_web_internal_portlet_TranslationPortlet_redirect parameter.
Input Validation Filter
allImplement server-side validation to reject or sanitize suspicious input in the redirect parameter.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate script execution.
- Disable or restrict access to the Export for Translation page if not required.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Test the _com_liferay_translation_web_internal_portlet_TranslationPortlet_redirect parameter with XSS payloads like <script>alert('XSS')</script> and check if script executes.Check Version:
Check Liferay's Control Panel → Configuration → Server Administration → System Information for version details.Verify Fix Applied:
After patching, retest with the same XSS payloads; scripts should be properly encoded and not execute.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual requests to /group/control_panel/manage?p_p_id=com_liferay_translation_web_internal_portlet_TranslationPortlet with script-like content in parameters
- Multiple failed XSS attempts in web server logs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing script tags or JavaScript in the _com_liferay_translation_web_internal_portlet_TranslationPortlet_redirect parameter
SIEM Query:
source="web_server_logs" AND uri_path="/group/control_panel/manage" AND query_string="*<script>*"