How severe is CVE-2023-33949?

CVE-2023-33949 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-33949?

CVE-2023-33949 affects the following packages: com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2023-33949?

Update com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom to 7.3.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-33949 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-33949 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-2023-33949 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-2023-33949?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-33949 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-2023-33949 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2023-33949 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-2023-33949?

CVE-2023-33949 is classified as CWE-1188 (CWE-1188). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2023-33949 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-33949 was published on May 24, 2023 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

CVE-2023-33949

HIGH

CVE-2023-33949 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-1188 vulnerability in com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-33949 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

Insecure Default Initialization In Liferay Portal

Also known asBIT-liferay-2023-33949GHSA-g9mr-9xfc-4gf7

Published

May 24, 2023

Updated

Jul 8, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

☕com.liferay.portal:release.portal.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

In Liferay Portal 7.3.0 and earlier, and Liferay DXP 7.2 and earlier the default configuration does not require users to verify their email address, which allows remote attackers to create accounts using fake email addresses or email addresses which they don't control. The portal property company.security.strangers.verify should be set to true.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom`	≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.3.1	7.3.1

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 7.3.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-33949 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-2023-33949 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-2023-33949. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

In Liferay Portal 7.3.0 and earlier, and Liferay DXP 7.2 and earlier the default configuration does not require users to verify their email address, which allows remote attackers to create accounts using fake email addresses or email addresses which they don't control. The portal property `company.security.strangers.verify` should be set to true.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2023-33949 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2023-33949 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