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Digital Experience PlatformApplication · Liferay

CVE-2025-43738

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2024.q1.20 / 2025.Q1.16 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 7.4.0 through 7.4.3.132, and Liferay DXP 2025.Q2.0 through 2025.Q2.8, 2025.Q1.0 through 2025.Q1.15, 2024.Q4.0 through 2024.Q4.7, 2024.Q3.1 through 2024.Q3.13, 2024.Q2.1 through 2024.Q2.13 and 2024.Q1.1 through 2024.Q1.19 allows a remote authenticated user to inject JavaScript code via _com_liferay_expando_web_portlet_ExpandoPortlet_displayType 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 confidence

Reflected XSS vulnerability in Liferay Portal/DXP where the _com_liferay_expando_web_portlet_ExpandoPortlet_displayType parameter is not properly sanitized, allowing authenticated users to inject malicious JavaScript that gets reflected back in the HTTP response.

MitigationApply vendor-provided security patches for the affected LPortal/DXP versions; until patched, implement WAF rules to filter or block malicious payloads in the displayType parameter.

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:>= 2024.q1.1, < 2024.q1.20>= 2024.Q2.1, <= 2024.Q2.13>= 2024.q3.1, <= 2024.q3.13>= 2024.q4.0, <= 2024.q4.7>= 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 Lifer installation and product type
    Locate the Lifer Portal or DXP installation directory and confirm which product is in use. Check server startup logs or administration interface for product identification.
    Affected if Lifer Portal or DXP is installed and running
  2. Determine installed Lifer version
    Access the Lifer administration panel (typically at /group/control_panel/manage), or check the portal-ext.properties file, or examine the OSGi bundle version in the Lifer Digital Enterprise Hub. The version is also visible in the footer of Lifer pages.
    Affected if Version falls within any of these ranges: DXP >= 2024.q1.1 to < 2024.q1.20; >= 2024.Q2.1 to <= 2024.Q2.13; >= 2024.q3.1 to <= 2024.q3.13; >= 2024.q4.0 to <= 2024.q4.7; >= 2025.Q1.0 to < 2025.Q1.16; >= 2025.Q2.0 to < 2025.Q2.9; or Portal 7.4.0 to 7.4.3.132
  3. Confirm user authentication is enabled
    Verify that Lifer's user authentication system is active. Check if the login portlet is accessible and users can log in to the portal.
    Affected if User authentication is enabled (required for authenticated XSS attack)
  4. Verify ExpandoPortlet module is accessible
    Attempt to access the ExpandoPortlet interface by navigating to a portlet that uses the Expando service, or check the OSGi console for the expando.web.portlet.ExpandoPortlet bundle being active.
    Affected if ExpandoPortlet module is deployed and accessible to authenticated users

If Lifer Portal or DXP is running a version within the affected ranges listed and authenticated users can access the ExpandoPortlet, the environment is vulnerable to reflected XSS via the displayType parameter.

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 2024.q1.20 / 2025.Q1.16 / 2025.Q2.9 or later
Fixed in 2024.q1.202025.Q1.162025.Q2.9
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-provided security patches for the affected LPortal/DXP versions; until patched, implement WAF rules to filter or block malicious payloads in the displayType parameter.

Recommended fix High confidence

Lifer Portal 7.4.3.133+ or DXP 2024.Q1.20+/2024.Q2.14+/2024.Q3.14+/2024.Q4.8+/2025.Q1.16+/2025.Q2.9+ (select the next quarterly release in your train)

  1. 1. Identify the exact currently deployed Lifter version (Portal or DXP) using the server's version information or admin console.
  2. 2. For Lifer Portal 7.4.x users: Upgrade to Lifer Portal 7.4.3.133 or later, which contains the fix for this XSS vulnerability.
  3. 3. For Lifer DXP users: Upgrade to the first fixed release in your quarterly cycle: 2024.Q1.20, 2024.Q2.14, 2024.Q3.14, 2024.Q4.8, 2025.Q1.16, or 2025.Q2.9 (depending on your release train).
  4. 4. After upgrading, verify the _com_liferay_expando_web_portlet_ExpandoPortlet_displayType parameter is properly encoded/escaped in responses.
  5. 5. Test the ExpandoPortlet functionality to ensure the upgrade did not break legitimate custom field operations.
  6. 6. Review Lifer's official security bulletin (lifera.dev) for any additional required post-upgrade configuration.
Caveat Standard Lifer upgrade precautions apply - test in staging first, review breaking changes in release notes, back up data

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

Fix this in Digital Experience Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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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-2025-43738 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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