How severe is CVE-2021-33336?

CVE-2021-33336 has a CVSS score of 5.4/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-33336?

CVE-2021-33336 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). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2021-33336?

Update com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom to 7.3.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-33336 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-33336 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. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-33336 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2021-33336?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-33336 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2021-33336 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2021-33336 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 type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-33336?

CVE-2021-33336 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). 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-2021-33336 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-33336 was published on August 4, 2021 and was last updated on July 8, 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

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2021-33336

MEDIUM

CVE-2021-33336 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2021-33336 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

Liferay Portal Journal Module and Liferay DXP Vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Also known asGHSA-fvg6-9r88-7w85

Published

Aug 4, 2021

Updated

Jul 8, 2026

Affected

3 pkgs

Patched

3 / 3

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Jul 8, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Real-World Exposure

3 pkgs affected

☕com.liferay.portal:release.portal.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

Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Journal module's add article menu in Liferay Portal 7.3.0 through 7.3.3, and Liferay DXP 7.1 fix pack 18, and 7.2 fix pack 5 through 7, allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the _com_liferay_journal_web_portlet_JournalPortlet_name parameter.

Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom`	≥ 7.3.0&&< 7.3.4	7.3.4
☕Maven	`com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom`	≥ 7.1.0&&< 7.1.10.fp18	7.1.10.fp18
☕Maven	`com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom`	≥ 7.2.10.fp5&&< 7.2.10.fp7	7.2.10.fp7

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. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom to 7.3.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-33336 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
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 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-33336 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to CVE-2021-33336. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-33336 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2021-33336 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works