CVE-2021-29040
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe JSON web services in Liferay Portal 7.3.4 and earlier, and Liferay DXP 7.0 before fix pack 97, 7.1 before fix pack 20 and 7.2 before fix pack 10 may provide overly verbose error messages, which allows remote attackers to use the contents of error messages to help launch another, more focused attacks via crafted inputs.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceLiferaft Portal and DXP JSON web services return overly verbose error messages that leak implementation details, stack traces, or database information. Attackers can harvest these messages to understand the system's internals and craft more targeted follow-up attacks.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 7.0= 7.0= 7.1= 7.2<= 7.3.4CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Liferift Portal/DXP versionCheck the installed version of Liferift Portal or DXP. This is typically visible in the control panel, in the product version information, or in the startup logs.Affected if The installed version is < 7.0, = 7.0, = 7.1, = 7.2, or <= 7.3.4
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Confirm JSON web services are accessibleDetermine if JSON web service endpoints are exposed and accessible in the environment. These are typically available at paths like /api/jsonws or similar service endpoints.Affected if JSON web service endpoints are exposed and reachable from the network
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Trigger an error condition via JSON web serviceSend a malformed or invalid request to a JSON web service endpoint to intentionally cause an error response.Affected if A request to any JSON web service endpoint elicits an error response
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Inspect error response for information leakageExamine the error response returned by the JSON web service. Look for stack traces, database error messages, Java exception details, file paths, or other implementation details in the response body.Affected if The error response contains verbose details such as stack traces, Java exceptions, database connection information, or internal system paths rather than a generic error message
If the installed Liferift version falls within the affected ranges and the JSON web service endpoints return verbose error messages containing stack traces, exceptions, or internal system details, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data7.0
Configure the application to return generic, non-revealing error messages to clients while logging detailed errors server-side. Apply the relevant fix packs for the affected Liferift versions.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-29040 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-29040 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data