CVE-2023-44310
📋 TL;DR
A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Liferay Portal and DXP allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into page names. When users view affected pages, the scripts execute in their browsers, potentially stealing credentials or performing unauthorized actions. This affects Liferay Portal 7.3.6-7.4.3.78 and Liferay DXP 7.3 fix pack 1-update 23 and 7.4 before update 79.
💻 Affected Systems
- Liferay Portal
- Liferay DXP
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal administrator credentials, hijack user sessions, deface websites, or redirect users to malicious sites, potentially leading to complete system compromise.
Likely Case
Attackers steal user session cookies or credentials, perform actions as authenticated users, or deface website content.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output encoding, malicious scripts are neutralized before execution, preventing exploitation.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires page editing access; could be combined with other vulnerabilities for unauthenticated attacks.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Liferay Portal 7.4.3.79+, Liferay DXP 7.4 update 79+, Liferay DXP 7.3 update 24+
Vendor Advisory: https://liferay.dev/portal/security/known-vulnerabilities/-/asset_publisher/jekt/content/cve-2023-44310
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download appropriate patch from Liferay customer portal. 2. Apply patch following Liferay's patching procedures. 3. Restart Liferay instance. 4. Verify fix by checking version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Filter
allImplement custom input validation to sanitize page name fields
Implement servlet filter or hook to sanitize 'name' parameter in page creation/editing requests
Output Encoding
allApply output encoding to page name display in templates
Use Liferay's escape methods: HtmlUtil.escape(name) in JSPs or FreeMarker templates
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict page editing permissions to trusted administrators only
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block XSS payloads in page name parameters
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Liferay version via Control Panel → Configuration → Server Administration → System InformationCheck Version:
Check via Liferay UI or examine liferay.home/version.properties fileVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is patched (7.4.3.79+ for Portal, 7.4 update 79+ or 7.3 update 24+ for DXP) and test page name field with XSS payloads📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual page creation/modification events
- Requests with script tags in 'name' parameter
- Multiple failed XSS attempts
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing script tags in page name parameters
- Unusual traffic to page editing endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="liferay" AND (message="*<script>*" OR message="*javascript:*") AND (uri="*/page/update*" OR uri="*/page/add*")