CVE-2023-42628 in Liferay
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2023
Stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Wiki widget in Liferay Portal 7.1.0 through 7.4.3.87, and Liferay DXP 7.0 fix pack 83 through 102, 7.1 fix pack 28 and earlier, 7.2 fix pack 20 and earlier, 7.3 update 33 and earlier, and 7.4 before update 88 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML into a parent wiki page via a crafted payload injected into a wiki page's ‘Content’ text field.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/04/2023
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-42628 affects Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP versions within specific release ranges, creating a critical security exposure that enables remote attackers to execute malicious scripts within the context of affected user sessions. This vulnerability specifically targets the Wiki widget functionality where user input is not properly sanitized before being rendered back to other users, establishing a persistent XSS attack vector that can compromise user sessions and potentially lead to privilege escalation or data exfiltration. The vulnerability resides in the handling of content within the wiki page's 'Content' text field, where crafted payloads can be injected and subsequently executed when other users view the affected wiki pages.
The technical flaw manifests through improper input validation and output encoding within the Wiki widget's rendering mechanism, allowing attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code or HTML content that persists in the database. When legitimate users access wiki pages containing the malicious content, their browsers execute the injected scripts within the context of their active sessions, potentially enabling attackers to steal session cookies, modify page content, redirect users to malicious sites, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. This stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious payload remains persistent and affects all users who view the compromised wiki page until the content is manually removed or the vulnerability is patched.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can facilitate more sophisticated attacks within the targeted Liferay environment. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to establish persistent access patterns, harvest sensitive information from authenticated sessions, or use the compromised wiki pages as a staging ground for further attacks within the organization's network infrastructure. The vulnerability affects organizations using Liferay Portal 7.1.0 through 7.4.3.87 and Liferay DXP 7.0 through 7.4, representing a significant risk to enterprises relying on these platforms for collaborative content management and enterprise portal functionality. The widespread adoption of Liferay across various industries makes this vulnerability particularly concerning as it could affect organizations from financial services to government agencies that depend on secure wiki and content management capabilities.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through official patches provided by Liferay, as the vulnerability represents a high-severity threat that can be exploited without requiring user interaction beyond viewing compromised content. Security teams should implement network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and consider temporary mitigation strategies such as content filtering or restricted access to wiki functionality until patches are deployed. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which categorizes cross-site scripting flaws as weaknesses in input validation and output encoding, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1531 which involves using compromised accounts to maintain access and perform further reconnaissance within target environments. Additional mitigations include implementing proper content security policies, regular security scanning of wiki content, and ensuring that all user inputs are properly sanitized and encoded before being stored or rendered in web applications to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in the future.