dbcve.org
Digital Experience PlatformApplication · Liferay

CVE-2023-33939

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.4.3.12 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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 · unedited
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Modified Facet widget in Liferay Portal 7.1.0 through 7.4.3.12, and Liferay DXP 7.1 before fix pack 27, 7.2 before fix pack 18, 7.3 before update 4, and 7.4 before update 9 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted payload injected into a facet label.

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 confidence

Stored XSS vulnerability in Lifer's Modified Facet widget allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary JavaScript/HTML through crafted payloads in the facet label parameter. The unsanitized input is persisted and executed when other users view the affected facet.

MitigationApply the relevant security patches: Lifer Portal 7.4.3.12 or later, DXP 7.1 Fix Pack 27+, DXP 7.2 Fix Pack 18+, DXP 7.3 Update 4+, or DXP 7.4 Update 9+. Alternatively, implement input validation and output encoding on the facet label field.

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
Digital Experience PlatformApplication
Affected:= 7.1= 7.2= 7.3= 7.4
Liferay PortalApplication
Affected:>= 7.1.0, <= 7.4.3.12

CVSS 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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Lifer Portal/DXP version
    Locate the Lifer Portal or DXP version in the control panel under Server > Server Information, or check the portal-ext.properties file for the version property.
    Affected if The installed version is 7.1.0 through 7.4.3.12, or matches DXP versions 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, or 7.4.
  2. Identify Modified Facet widget usage
    Search the Lifer instance for any pages or portlets using the 'Modified Facet' widget. This can be done through the Lifer UI by viewing page configurations or by querying the portlet preferences database tables.
    Affected if The Modified Facet widget is deployed and active on any page in the environment.
  3. Inspect facet label configurations in database
    Query the Lifer database for entries in the Layout_Friendly_URL or similar facet-related tables, specifically looking at fields that store facet label configuration data for suspicious HTML or JavaScript content.
    Affected if Any facet label contains unsanitized HTML script tags, event handlers, or javascript: URIs.
  4. Verify user access controls for facet configuration
    Review the Lifer roles and permissions to determine which users or roles have permission to configure or modify facet widgets. Check under Control Panel > Users > Roles and Control Panel > Configuration > Facet Configuration.
    Affected if Users without proper security training have the ability to modify facet labels.

A user is affected if they run a vulnerable Lifer Portal/DXP version and have the Modified Facet widget in use with untrusted users able to configure facet labels containing malicious scripts.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 7.4.3.12
Interim mitigation

Apply the relevant security patches: Lifer Portal 7.4.3.12 or later, DXP 7.1 Fix Pack 27+, DXP 7.2 Fix Pack 18+, DXP 7.3 Update 4+, or DXP 7.4 Update 9+. Alternatively, implement input validation and output encoding on the facet label field.

Recommended fix High confidence

Lifer DXP: 7.1 fix pack 27+, 7.2 fix pack 18+, 7.3 update 4+, 7.4 update 9+ | Lifer Portal: 7.4.3.13+

  1. Identify whether you are running Lifer Portal or Lifer DXP and note your current version number
  2. If using Lifer DXP 7.1.x, apply fix pack 27 or later
  3. If using Lifer DXP 7.2.x, apply fix pack 18 or later
  4. If using Lifer DXP 7.3.x, apply update 4 or later
  5. If using Lifer DXP 7.4.x, apply update 9 or later
  6. If using Lifer Portal 7.1.0 through 7.4.3.12, upgrade to Lifer Portal 7.4.3.13 or later (or latest 7.4.x stable release)
  7. After upgrading, verify the Modified Facet widget functions correctly and test that XSS payloads in facet labels are no longer executed
Caveat Review Lifer release notes for your target version to check for any breaking changes or deprecations between your current and target version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Digital Experience Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-33939 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-33939 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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