Portal: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
CVE-2025-43816 is a high-severity missing release of memory after effective lifetime vulnerability in Portal from Liferay, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Portal versions: 7.4.0 through 7.4.3.119. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.34% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Digital Experience Platform to 7.4 or 2024.Q1.6, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Liferay Portal to 7.4.3.120 or a later version.
- Read the advisory on liferay.dev for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liferay | Portal | 7.4.0 through 7.4.3.119 | Not stated |
| Liferay | DXP | 7.4.13 through 7.4.13-u92; 2023.Q3.1 through 2023.Q3.10; 2023.Q4.0 through 2023.Q4.10; 2024.Q1.1 through 2024.Q1.5 | Not stated |
| Liferay | Digital Experience Platform | before 7.4; 2023.Q3.1 through 2023.Q3.10; 2023.q4.0 through 2023.q4.10; 2024.Q1.1 up to, but not including, 2024.Q1.6; 7.4 | 7.4, 2024.Q1.6 |
| Liferay | Liferay Portal | before 7.4.3.120 | 7.4.3.120 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- NoneNo data is disclosed.
- Integrity
- NoneNothing can be modified.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 4.0 | 6.9 | Medium | CNA (liferay.com) |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.5 | High | NVD |
Official description
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.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Choose a language or tool that provides automatic memory management, or makes manual memory management less error-prone. For example, glibc in Linux provides protection against free of invalid pointers. When using Xcode to target OS X or iOS, enable automatic reference counting (ARC). To help correctly and consistently manage memory when programming in C++, consider using a smart pointer class such as std
- Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
- Consider using the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector (bdwgc), which can help avoid leaks.
More Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerabilities (CWE-401)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Advisories
Other vulnerabilities in Portal
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
Recent Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerabilities
- 8.6 High severity
- 8.6 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
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