Exploited

CVE-2020-7961

Liferay Portal / DXP · CMS, e-commerce and websites

Liferay Portal Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability

At a glance

Exploited. Added to CISA’s catalog of exploited vulnerabilities on November 3, 2021.

Affected product: Liferay Portal / DXP (category CMS, e-commerce and websites, indicative classification). Name in CISA’s catalog: Liferay Liferay Portal.

What should I do?

Apply the security update from Liferay.

Deadline set by CISA for US federal agencies: 181 days (due May 3, 2022). It only binds those agencies, but it is a useful measure of urgency.

The vendor’s specific advisory is listed in the NVD references: CVE-2020-7961 on the NVD website.

Original text of the required action (CISA)

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Timeline

March 20, 2020 Vulnerability published Publication date (NVD)
November 3, 2021 Exploitation confirmed Added to CISA’s KEV catalog
May 3, 2022 CISA deadline Remediation deadline set for US federal agencies

The facts, with their sources

Exploitation confirmed: Yes, on November 3, 2021 Date added to the catalog of exploited vulnerabilities. Exploitation itself may have started earlier. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Ransomware: No known use to date That does not guarantee it is not being used: the information is not public. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Hunt for compromise: Not requested by CISA Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA required action: Apply the security update from Liferay. Rewritten by this site from CISA’s original text. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA deadline: May 3, 2022, 181 days Set for US federal agencies: a measure of urgency, not an obligation elsewhere. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Vulnerability published: March 20, 2020 Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
Product according to CISA: Liferay Liferay Portal Filed by this site under “CMS, e-commerce and websites” (indicative classification). Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Technical detail of the score: attack vector, complexity, impact. Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC

Severity and activity

9.8 / 10 CVSS severity: critical

Score from the NVD. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

— Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS)

FIRST’s EPSS model. Since exploitation is already confirmed, this figure is mostly useful to compare activity. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

Description

Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Liferay Portal prior to 7.2.1 CE GA2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via JSON web services (JSONWS).

Liferay Portal contains a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute code via JSON web services.

Summary from CISA (KEV catalog).

CERT-FR advisories

No advisory among the latest CERT-FR publications this site follows. That does not mean there are none.

Information reused under the Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab); the date of last update is shown for each advisory. This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by ANSSI.

Sources for this page

CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, required action, deadline, ransomware.
NVD (NIST): CVSS severity, publication date, description, vendor references.
EPSS (FIRST): probability of exploitation.
CERT-FR: advisories and alerts (in French).
Brand and category: indicative classification by this site (method).