CVE-2025-43781: Liferay DXP Reflected XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-43781 Overview

CVE-2025-43781 is a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the search bar portlet of Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP. Remote attackers can inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the URL processed by the search bar portlet. The flaw affects Liferay Portal versions 7.4.3.110 through 7.4.3.128 and multiple Liferay DXP quarterly releases from 2024.Q1 through 2024.Q3. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-79 and requires user interaction to trigger, typically by convincing a victim to click a crafted link.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the victim's browser session, enabling session token theft, credential harvesting, and unauthorized actions in the Liferay Portal context.

Affected Products

Liferay Portal 7.4.3.110 through 7.4.3.128
Liferay DXP 2024.Q3.1 through 2024.Q3.8, 2024.Q2.0 through 2024.Q2.13
Liferay DXP 2024.Q1.1 through 2024.Q1.12

Discovery Timeline

2025-09-09 - CVE-2025-43781 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-43781

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the search bar portlet within affected Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP releases. The portlet reflects URL-supplied input back into the rendered HTML response without sufficient output encoding or input sanitization. An attacker crafts a URL containing malicious script payloads targeting a parameter processed by the search bar portlet. When a victim opens the crafted link in an authenticated session, the injected script executes in the victim's browser under the origin of the Liferay deployment.

Because the payload executes with the victim's session context, an attacker can read Document Object Model (DOM) content, exfiltrate session identifiers, invoke portal APIs on the victim's behalf, or pivot to further attacks. The vulnerability requires user interaction, which limits scale but does not diminish impact against targeted users such as administrators.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of input during web page generation ([CWE-79]). Content supplied through the URL parameters bound to the search bar portlet is emitted into the response without contextual HTML or JavaScript encoding. Liferay has not published a detailed technical breakdown of the vulnerable code path in the public advisory.

Attack Vector

Exploitation is network-based and requires no privileges. An attacker delivers the crafted URL through phishing, chat, forum posts, or any channel that renders links. When the target clicks the URL, the reflected payload executes in the browser. See the Liferay Security Vulnerability CVE-2025-43781 advisory for vendor-supplied details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-43781

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to the Liferay search bar portlet containing URL parameters with <script>, javascript:, onerror=, onload=, or encoded variants such as %3Cscript%3E.
Referrer headers pointing to external phishing pages that redirect users into authenticated Liferay sessions.
Unexpected outbound requests from authenticated user browsers to attacker-controlled domains shortly after a search bar interaction.

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server and reverse proxy access logs for search bar portlet URLs containing HTML tags, event handlers, or long URL-encoded payloads.
Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules that flag reflected script patterns in query strings targeting Liferay endpoints.
Correlate authenticated user sessions with anomalous DOM-based navigation or unusual API calls following external referrers.

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor Liferay application logs for high-frequency requests to search portlet URLs with suspicious query parameters.
Track browser Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports if CSP headers are configured to log inline script attempts.
Alert on session cookie access anomalies and outbound connections to newly observed domains from portal users.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-43781

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Liferay Portal to a fixed release above 7.4.3.128 and Liferay DXP to a patched build referenced in the Liferay Security Vulnerability CVE-2025-43781 advisory.
Apply available Liferay DXP fix packs for the 2024.Q1, 2024.Q2, and 2024.Q3 release lines.
Review recent access logs for the search bar portlet to identify prior exploitation attempts.

Patch Information

Liferay has published fixes through the vendor security advisory. Administrators should consult the Liferay Security Vulnerability CVE-2025-43781 advisory for the exact patched version corresponding to their deployment channel and apply the vendor-recommended upgrade path.

Workarounds

Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts and restricts script sources to trusted origins.
Configure a WAF with signatures for reflected XSS payloads targeting Liferay search endpoints until patches are applied.
Educate administrators and privileged users to avoid clicking untrusted links pointing to the internal Liferay deployment.

bash

# Example nginx WAF-style rule to block reflected script patterns targeting the search portlet
location ~* /web/.*search {
    if ($args ~* "(<script|javascript:|onerror=|onload=|%3Cscript)") {
        return 403;
    }
}