How severe is CVE-2020-15842?

CVE-2020-15842 has a CVSS score of 8.1/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-15842?

CVE-2020-15842 affects the following packages: com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom (Maven), com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven), com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven), com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2020-15842?

Update com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom to 7.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15842 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-15842 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-15842 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.

Is CVE-2020-15842 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2020-15842 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-15842?

CVE-2020-15842 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.8%, placing it in the 78th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-15842?

CVE-2020-15842 is classified as Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2020-15842 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-15842 was published on July 20, 2020 and was last updated on October 24, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕

☕ Maven

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2020-15842 — release.portal.bom

HIGH

CVE-2020-15842 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom. A fix is available for com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP have Insecure Deserialization Vulnerability

Also known asGHSA-mg3r-9jh8-33r9

Published

Jul 20, 2020

Updated

Oct 24, 2026

Affected

4 pkgs

Patched

4 / 4

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.8%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs78th percentile — riskier than 78% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

4 pkgs affected

☕com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom☕com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom☕com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom☕com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Liferay Portal before 7.3.0, and Liferay DXP 7.0 before fix pack 90, 7.1 before fix pack 17, and 7.2 before fix pack 5, allows man-in-the-middle attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted serialized payloads, because of insecure deserialization.

Affected Packages

4 total 4 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom`	all versions	7.3.0`com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom:7.3.0`
☕Maven	`com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom`	≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.0.10.fp90	7.0.10.fp90`com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom:7.0.10.fp90`
☕Maven	`com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom`	≥ 7.1.0&&< 7.1.10.fp17	7.1.10.fp17`com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom:7.1.10.fp17`
☕Maven	`com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom`	≥ 7.2.0&&< 7.2.10.fp5	7.2.10.fp5`com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom:7.2.10.fp5`

Affected Products

2 products · 75 configurations

Application

digital experience platformliferay

3 versions

7.07.17.2

Application

liferay portalliferay

< 7.3.0

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom to 7.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15842 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-15842 in your dependencies?

Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

8.1/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

High

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Raw vector

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

CWE Classification

CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data

Weaponization

No Nuclei template, Metasploit module or public proof-of-concept found.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

liferay-portal

2.5/10

Code-Review0/10

Maintained10/10

Branch-Protection0/10

Assessed Nov 2, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Jul 20, 2020

Last updated

Oct 24, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2020-15842

GHSA-mg3r-9jh8-33r9

References

Advisoryportal.liferay.dev Advisorynvd.nist.gov · CVE 2020 15842 Reportissues.liferay.com · LPE 16963 Packagegithub.com · liferay portal

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is high severity; 2 of 8 other CVEs affecting release.portal.bom are rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2025-62264CVE-2025-62265CVE-2025-62257CVE-2025-62266CVE-2025-62258CVE-2025-62259CVE-2025-62260CVE-2025-62261

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedOct 24, 2026

CVE-2020-15842 — release.portal.bom

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

Description

Affected Packages

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Fix

Workarounds

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2020-15842 in your dependencies?