Liferay Portal defaults to a low work factor for the default password hashing algorithmGHSA-43h9-p3j4-39hm
HIGHGHSA-43h9-p3j4-39hm is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) CWE-916 vulnerability in com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom. A fix is available for com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-43h9-p3j4-39hm.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom☕com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom☕com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom☕com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom☕com.liferay.portal:com.liferay.portal.kernelReal-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 default password hashing algorithm (PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA1) in Liferay Portal 7.2.0 through 7.4.3.15, and older unsupported versions, and Liferay DXP 7.4 before update 16, 7.3 before update 4, 7.2 before fix pack 17, and older unsupported versions defaults to a low work factor, which allows attackers to quickly crack password hashes.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom | ≥ 7.3.0&&< 7.3.10.u4 | 7.3.10.u4com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom:7.3.10.u4 |
| ☕Maven | com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom | all versions | 7.2.10.fp17com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom:7.2.10.fp17 |
| ☕Maven | com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom | ≥ 7.4.0&&< 7.4.13.u16 | 7.4.13.u16com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom:7.4.13.u16 |
| ☕Maven | com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom | all versions | 7.4.3.14com.liferay.portal:release.portal.bom:7.4.3.14 |
| ☕Maven | com.liferay.portal:com.liferay.portal.kernel | all versions | 38.0.0com.liferay.portal:com.liferay.portal.kernel:38.0.0 |
Affected Products
digital experience platformliferayliferay portalliferayDetection & 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.dxp.bom, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom to 7.3.10.u4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-43h9-p3j4-39hm 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-43h9-p3j4-39hm in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.