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Digital Experience PlatformApplication · Liferay

CVE-2025-43737

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2025.Q1.16 / 2025.Q2.9 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
A reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Liferay Portal 7.4.3.132, and Liferay DXP 2025.Q2.0 through 2025.Q2.8 and 2025.Q1.0 through 2025.Q1.15 allows a remote authenticated user to inject JavaScript code via _com_liferay_journal_web_portlet_JournalPortlet_backURL 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 · moderate confidence

A reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Lifer Portal/DXP allows authenticated users to inject malicious JavaScript code through the _com_lifera_journal_web_portlet_JournalPortlet_backURL parameter. The backURL parameter is not properly sanitized before being reflected in the response, enabling script execution in the victim's browser.

MitigationImplement proper input validation and output encoding for the backURL parameter in the JournalPortlet component. Upgrade to Lifer DXP 2025.Q2.9+ or 2025.Q1.16+ when available, or apply vendor-supplied patches.

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:>= 2025.Q1.0, < 2025.Q1.16>= 2025.Q2.0, < 2025.Q2.9
Liferay PortalApplication
Affected:>= 7.4.0, <= 7.4.3.132

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. Identify installed Lifer Portal/DXP version
    Check the Lifer version via the control panel (Control Panel > Configuration > System Information) or examine the portal-ext.properties file for the version property. On the server, check the bundle version in the Lifer home directory or the OSGi console.
    Affected if The installed version falls within the affected ranges: Lifer DXP 2025.Q1.0 to 2025.Q1.15, or 2025.Q2.0 to 2025.Q2.8, or Lifer Portal 7.4.0 to 7.4.3.132.
  2. Confirm JournalPortlet is deployed and active
    In the Lifer OSGi console (http://[host]:[port]/o/system/console/bundles), search for 'com_lifera_journal_web_portlet_JournalPortlet' or navigate to the Web > Portlet > Journal section in the control panel to verify the Journal content portlet is installed.
    Affected if The JournalPortlet bundle is present and active in the Lifer instance.
  3. Verify authentication is enabled for the affected endpoint
    Confirm that Lifer's user authentication is enabled. Check in Control Panel > Configuration > Authentication. The vulnerability requires an authenticated session, so verify that the portal requires login for accessing the JournalPortlet functionality.
    Affected if User authentication is required to access the portal and the JournalPortlet is accessible to authenticated users.
  4. Inspect backURL parameter usage in HTTP responses
    Log into the portal as an authenticated user. Navigate to the Web Content section (Journal). Create or edit an article and observe if the _com_lifera_journal_web_portlet_JournalPortlet_backURL parameter appears in the URL. Capture the HTTP response using browser dev tools or a proxy and inspect if this parameter is reflected without proper encoding.
    Affected if The backURL parameter is present in URLs and its value is reflected in the HTML response without sanitization, indicating potential XSS vulnerability.

The environment is affected if running a Lifer Portal 7.4.0-7.4.3.132 or Lifer DXP 2025.Q1.x (before 2025.Q1.16) or 2025.Q2.x (before 2025.Q2.9) with the JournalPortlet active and accessible to authenticated users, and the backURL parameter is reflected in responses without encoding.

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 2025.Q1.16 / 2025.Q2.9 or later
Fixed in 2025.Q1.162025.Q2.9
Interim mitigation

Implement proper input validation and output encoding for the backURL parameter in the JournalPortlet component. Upgrade to Lifer DXP 2025.Q2.9+ or 2025.Q1.16+ when available, or apply vendor-supplied patches.

Recommended fix High confidence

2025.Q1.16 (for Q1 line), 2025.Q2.9 (for Q2 line), or latest 7.4.x for Portal

  1. 1. Identify the exact Lifford DXP or Portal version currently running using the Control Panel > Server Administration > Version information.
  2. 2. For DXP 2025.Q1.x instances: Upgrade to version 2025.Q1.16 or later.
  3. 3. For DXP 2025.Q2.x instances: Upgrade to version 2025.Q2.9 or later.
  4. 4. For Lifford Portal 7.4.x instances: Upgrade to the latest 7.4.x release (7.4.3.133 or later if available).
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the _com_lifer_journal_web_portlet_JournalPortlet_backURL parameter is properly URL-encoded in all Journal Portlet URLs.
  6. 6. Test that the Journal Portlet functionality works correctly after the upgrade.
Caveat Standard upgrade precautions apply - backup database and test in staging before production deployment

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

Fix this in Digital Experience Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2025-43737 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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