CVE-2023-42498
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 · uneditedReflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Language Override edit screen in Liferay Portal 7.4.3.8 through 7.4.3.97, and Liferay DXP 2023.Q3 before patch 5, and 7.4 update 4 through 92 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the _com_liferay_portal_language_override_web_internal_portlet_PLOPortlet_key parameter.
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 confidenceA reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in the Language Override edit screen of Lifer Portal 7.4.3.8 through 7.4.3.97 and Lifer DXP 2023.Q3 (before patch 5) and 7.4 update 4 through 92. The vulnerability is triggered via the _com_lifer_portal_language_override_web_internal_portlet_PLOPortlet_key parameter, allowing remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML that executes in the victim's browser.
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>= 7.4.3.8, < 7.4.3.98= 7.4= 2023.q3.0= 2023.q3.1= 2023.q3.2= 2023.q3.3= 2023.q3.4CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Lifer Portal or DXP versionCheck the product version via the Lifer control panel (Control Panel > Configuration > System Information) or by examining the product bundle name and build properties files in the Lifer installation directoryAffected if The installed version is >= 7.4.3.8 and < 7.4.3.98 for Portal, or is 7.4 (any update 4-92), or is 2023.Q3.0 through 2023.Q3.4 (before patch 5)
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Determine if Language Override feature is accessibleNavigate to the Language Override edit screen. Typically accessed via Control Panel > Configuration > Language Override in the Lifer UI, or attempt to access the PLOPortlet directly via the URL path containing language_override_web_internal_portlet_PLOPortletAffected if The Language Override edit screen is accessible and the PLOPortlet is active in the deployment
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Verify the _com_lifer_portal_language_override_web_internal_portlet_PLOPortlet_key parameter is handled without sanitizationSubmit a test request to the Language Override endpoint with a benign script payload in the key parameter (e.g., ?_com_lifer_portal_language_override_web_internal_portlet_PLOPortlet_key=<script>alert(1)</script>) and observe whether the payload is reflected unescaped in the responseAffected if The injected script or HTML payload is returned verbatim in the HTML response without encoding or sanitization
A user is affected if they are running Lifer Portal 7.4.3.8-7.4.3.97 or Lifer DXP 7.4 update 4-92 or DXP 2023.Q3.0-2023.Q3.4, have access to the Language Override feature, and the key parameter reflects unescaped input.
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.
dbcve · scoped7.4.3.98
Apply the vendor-supplied patch (patch 5 for DXP 2023.Q3) or upgrade to a fixed version. As defense-in-depth, implement input validation and output encoding on the affected parameter.
Lifford Portal: 7.4.3.98+ | Lifford DXP 2023.Q3: apply patch 5
- 1. Identify the exact Lifford product and version currently installed (Portal or DXP, and specific version number).
- 2. For Lifford Portal: Upgrade to version 7.4.3.98 or later.
- 3. For Lifford DXP 7.4: Apply Patch 5 to the 2023.Q3 release, or upgrade to a version containing the fix.
- 4. Verify the upgrade/patch was applied successfully by checking the Lifford diagnostic information.
- 5. Test the Language Override edit screen functionality to confirm the fix does not break existing features.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-42498 — 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-2023-42498 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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