Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP vulnerable to email spam via lack of flagging rate

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2021-33320: 1.16% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 67.26 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

The Flags module before version 5.0.11 in Liferay Portal 7.3.1 and earlier, and Liferay DXP 7.0 before fix pack 96, 7.1 before fix pack 20, and 7.2 before fix pack 5, does not limit the rate at which content can be flagged as inappropriate, which allows remote authenticated users to spam the site administrator with emails

Published by the source

24 May 2022, 19:09 UTC

Last modified by the source

14 Jul 2025, 16:26 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 16:39 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-wg4x-hf94-fj5v

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2021-33320

Advisory: Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP vulnerable to email spam via lack of flagging rate
IDs: CVE-2021-33320, GHSA-wg4x-hf94-fj5v
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2021-33320 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:39 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 4.3)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom 7.2.10.fp5, 7.1.10.fp20, 7.0.10.fp96; com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib 5.0.11. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom: affected >= 7.0.0, < 7.0.10.fp96; >= 7.1.0, < 7.1.10.fp20; >= 7.2.0, < 7.2.10.fp5; fixed in 7.2.10.fp5, 7.0.10.fp96, 7.1.10.fp20
- Maven com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib: affected < 5.0.11; fixed in 5.0.11

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Maven com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom, com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-wg4x-hf94-fj5v (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-wg4x-hf94-fj5v lists affected ranges: Maven com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib >=0 =7.0.0 =7.1.0 =7.2.0 <7.2.10.fp5)

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