CVE-2024-25150 in Liferay
Summary
by MITRE • 02/20/2024
Information disclosure vulnerability in the Control Panel in Liferay Portal 7.2.0 through 7.4.2, and older unsupported versions, and Liferay DXP 7.3 before update 4, 7.2 before fix pack 19, and older unsupported versions allows remote authenticated users to obtain a user's full name from the page's title by enumerating user screen names.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/11/2024
This vulnerability exists within the Control Panel functionality of Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP platforms, representing a significant information disclosure flaw that affects multiple version ranges including Liferay Portal 7.2.0 through 7.4.2 and unsupported older versions, alongside Liferay DXP 7.3 before update 4 and 7.2 before fix pack 19. The flaw stems from insufficient access controls and improper input validation within the page title generation mechanism that processes user screen names. Attackers can exploit this weakness by enumerating user screen names through controlled requests to retrieve page titles, which inadvertently expose users' full names in the process.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability leverages the predictable nature of how Liferay generates page titles for user-specific content within the Control Panel interface. When users create pages or when system-generated pages are accessed, the platform incorporates user screen names into the page title structure. This design flaw becomes exploitable when authenticated users with minimal privileges can systematically access page metadata through enumeration techniques. The vulnerability specifically targets the page title rendering functionality rather than direct user data access mechanisms, making it particularly subtle and difficult to detect through standard security scanning tools.
From an operational impact perspective, this information disclosure vulnerability compromises user privacy and can facilitate further attack vectors including social engineering campaigns, credential stuffing attacks, and targeted phishing operations. The exposure of full names alongside screen names provides attackers with valuable personal information that can be used to craft convincing deceptive communications or to identify additional targets within the organization. This weakness aligns with CWE-200, which addresses information exposure through improper access control mechanisms, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege as defined in security best practices.
The exploitation of this vulnerability follows patterns consistent with ATT&CK technique T1566, which involves social engineering through information gathering, and T1087, which encompasses account discovery activities. Attackers can systematically enumerate user accounts through page title metadata access, potentially leading to comprehensive user directory mapping and subsequent privilege escalation attempts. Organizations running affected versions face significant risk of unauthorized information disclosure, particularly in environments where user privacy is paramount and regulatory compliance requirements are strict.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate application of available patches and updates for affected Liferay versions, implementation of additional access controls for page title generation functionality, and deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and restrict enumeration patterns. Organizations should also consider implementing rate limiting mechanisms and access logging for Control Panel functions to detect suspicious enumeration activities. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and access control implementation in enterprise portal platforms, as outlined in OWASP Top Ten security requirements for web application security.