dbcve.org
Digital Experience PlatformApplication · Liferay

CVE-2025-43816

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.4 / 7.4.3.120 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 memory leak in the headless API for StructuredContents in Liferay Portal 7.4.0 through 7.4.3.119, and older unsupported versions, and Liferay DXP 2024.Q1.1 through 2024.Q1.5, 2023.Q4.0 through 2024.Q4.10, 2023.Q3.1 through 2023.Q3.10, 7.4 GA through update 92, and older unsupported versions allows an attacker to cause server unavailability (denial of service) via repeatedly calling the API endpoint.

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

A memory leak exists in Liferay's headless API for StructuredContents across multiple versions. Repeated requests to this endpoint cause memory to accumulate without proper cleanup, eventually exhausting server resources and causing denial of service.

MitigationApply the vendor patch/upgrade to a fixed Lifer version. As a temporary workaround, implement rate-limiting or restrict unauthenticated access to the affected headless API endpoint.

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:< 7.4>= 2023.Q3.1, <= 2023.Q3.10>= 2023.q4.0, <= 2023.q4.10>= 2024.Q1.1, < 2024.Q1.6= 7.4
Liferay PortalApplication
Affected:< 7.4.3.120

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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
    Log into the Control Panel, go to Configuration > Server Administration > Version, or check the welcome page footer for the version number
    Affected if The version falls outside the fixed releases: DXP versions before 7.4 GA, 2023.Q3.1 through 2023.Q3.10, 2023.q4.0 through 2023.q4.10, 2024.Q1.1 through 2024.Q1.5, or Portal versions below 7.4.3.120
  2. Confirm headless API for StructuredContents is accessible
    Make a GET request to the endpoint /o/headless-structured-content/v1.0/structuredContents or attempt to access it via browser if unauthenticated access is allowed
    Affected if The endpoint returns a valid JSON response or authentication prompt, indicating the API is exposed
  3. Check if unauthenticated access is permitted to the headless API
    Review Lifer Portal's CORS and API permission settings in Control Panel > System Settings > API > Headless, or test the endpoint without providing authentication credentials
    Affected if The StructuredContents endpoint responds without requiring authentication (no 401/403 error)
  4. Monitor memory usage during repeated API calls
    Use server monitoring tools (JConsole, VisualVM, or OS-level memory monitors) to observe heap memory while making repeated requests to the StructuredContents endpoint
    Affected if Heap memory continuously grows without stabilizing or decreasing after garbage collection cycles

You are affected if your Lifer version is within any of the vulnerable ranges AND the headless StructuredContents API is accessible, either authenticated or unauthenticated, and memory grows unbounded under load.

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 7.4 / 7.4.3.120 / 2024.Q1.6 or later
Fixed in 7.47.4.3.1202024.Q1.6
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch/upgrade to a fixed Lifer version. As a temporary workaround, implement rate-limiting or restrict unauthenticated access to the affected headless API endpoint.

Recommended fix High confidence

Lifter Portal 7.4.3.120+ or DXP 2024.Q1.6+ (depending on your product line)

  1. 1. Identify your current Lifter installation version (Portal or DXP) and note the specific update level
  2. 2. For Lifter Portal 7.4.x users: Upgrade to version 7.4.3.120 or later
  3. 3. For DXP 2024.Q1.x users: Upgrade to version 2024.Q1.6 or later
  4. 4. For DXP 2023.Q4.x users: Upgrade to the first version after 2023.Q4.10 that contains the fix
  5. 5. For DXP 2023.Q3.x users: Upgrade to the first version after 2023.Q3.10 that contains the fix
  6. 6. After upgrade, monitor server memory usage to confirm the memory leak is resolved
  7. 7. Consider implementing rate limiting on the StructuredContents headless API endpoint as an additional mitigation
Caveat Standard upgrade risks apply - review release notes for your target version for any configuration or feature changes

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
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,880
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,808.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-43816 — 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-2025-43816 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