CVE-2024-26271
📋 TL;DR
This CSRF vulnerability in Liferay Portal/DXP allows attackers to trick authenticated users into performing unauthorized actions by clicking malicious links. Attackers can change passwords, shut down servers, execute arbitrary code, and perform administrative actions. Affects Liferay Portal 7.4.3.75-7.4.3.111 and multiple DXP versions.
💻 Affected Systems
- Liferay Portal
- Liferay DXP
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise via arbitrary code execution leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Unauthorized password changes, server shutdowns causing service disruption, and privilege escalation through administrative actions.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper CSRF protections, but still potential for targeted attacks against users with administrative privileges.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires tricking authenticated users into visiting malicious pages; CSRF attacks are well-understood and easily weaponized.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Liferay Portal 7.4.3.112+, Liferay DXP 2023.Q4.3+, 2023.Q3.6+, 7.4 update 93+, 7.3 update 37+
Vendor Advisory: https://liferay.dev/portal/security/known-vulnerabilities/-/asset_publisher/jekt/content/CVE-2024-26271
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download appropriate patch from Liferay customer portal. 2. Backup current installation. 3. Apply patch following Liferay's patch installation guide. 4. Restart Liferay server. 5. Verify fix by checking version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
CSRF Token Enforcement
allEnable strict CSRF protection in Liferay configuration
Set portal.properties: csrf.token.check.enabled=true
Set csrf.token.origin.check.enabled=true
Disable My Account Widget
allRemove or restrict access to vulnerable My Account widget
Navigate to Control Panel > Widget Templates
Remove My Account widget from layouts or restrict permissions
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block requests with malicious _com_liferay_my_account_web_portlet_MyAccountPortlet_backURL parameters
- Use browser security extensions that block CSRF attempts and educate users about phishing risks
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Liferay version via Control Panel > Server Administration > Properties, or examine liferay-portal.xml version attributeCheck Version:
Check ${liferay.home}/tomcat-9.0.xx/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/liferay-portal.xml for version attributeVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is patched (7.4.3.112+ for Portal, appropriate fixed versions for DXP) and test CSRF protection with security tools📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed authentication attempts followed by successful My Account modifications
- Unusual _com_liferay_my_account_web_portlet_MyAccountPortlet_backURL parameter values in access logs
- Unexpected server shutdown events
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing the vulnerable parameter from unexpected referrers
- Cross-origin requests to My Account endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="liferay-access" AND (uri_path="/my-account" OR param="_com_liferay_my_account_web_portlet_MyAccountPortlet_backURL") AND referrer NOT CONTAINS "your-domain.com"