CVE-2021-33333 — release.portal.bom
MEDIUMCVE-2021-33333 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.3) Incorrect Default Permissions 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 Fails to Check User Permissions for Workflow Submissions
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-33333 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom☕com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom☕com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom☕com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bomReal-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
The Portal Workflow module in Liferay Portal 7.3.2 and earlier, and Liferay DXP 7.0 before fix pack 93, 7.1 before fix pack 19 and 7.2 before fix pack 6, does not properly check user permission, which allows remote authenticated users to view and delete workflow submissions via crafted URLs.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom | all versions | No fix |
| ☕Maven | com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom | all versions | 7.0.10.fp93com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom:7.0.10.fp93 |
| ☕Maven | com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom | ≥ 7.1.0&&< 7.1.10.fp19 | 7.1.10.fp19com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom:7.1.10.fp19 |
| ☕Maven | com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom | ≥ 7.2.0&&< 7.2.10.fp6 | 7.2.10.fp6com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom:7.2.10.fp6 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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
No patched version of com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom has shipped for CVE-2021-33333 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2021-33333 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2021-33333. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-33333 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2021-33333 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.