CVE-2025-43796: Liferay Portal Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-f3hf-r62c-mfrj
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CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-43796 is a HIGH remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Liferay Portal libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves missing rate limiting in graphql endpoint enables resource exhaustion attack. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 40.2.0, 5.0.105.

CVE-2025-43796 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-43796
GHSA Identifier GHSA-f3hf-r62c-mfrj
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Liferay Portal
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2025-43796

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Liferay Portal dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.api fixed: 40.2.0 
<dependency>
    <groupId>com.liferay</groupId>
    <artifactId>com.liferay.portal.vulcan.api</artifactId>
    <version>40.2.0</version>
</dependency>
com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.impl fixed: 5.0.105 
<dependency>
    <groupId>com.liferay</groupId>
    <artifactId>com.liferay.portal.vulcan.impl</artifactId>
    <version>5.0.105</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.liferay

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2025-43796, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.liferay

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Liferay Portal in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 40.2.0), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.liferay command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. In Liferay Portal, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Liferay Portal 7.4.0 through 7.4.3.101, and Liferay DXP 2023.Q3.0 through 2023.Q3.4, 7.4 GA through update 92 and 7.3 GA though update 35 does not limit the number of objects returned from a GraphQL queries, which allows remote attackers to perform denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on the application by executing queries that return a large number of objects.

CVE-2025-43796 Affected Liferay Portal Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
40.2.05.0.105
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.api
maven/com.liferay/com.liferay.portal.vulcan.api
Maven
≥ 8.0.2
< 40.2.0
40.2.0
com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.impl
maven/com.liferay/com.liferay.portal.vulcan.impl
Maven
≥ 5.0.7
< 5.0.105
5.0.105

References

NVD — CVE-2025-43796 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-43796
Liferay Portal Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/2e4adf041e31f3474a14c29b7c135693f6529400
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/2f74f23982fb03238f9b4ae145c33a9c1084f07e
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/3780804b0d8f4f14bfca470a3e2e662bc6cef588
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/8344aec3bebcd2ca409794523d5db5be6047c3dd
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/83e77963499d4d3e7cc82cc48e63c992f6f29a6d
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/8dda4adc0e9e7b6f82d4b3959592cad61640309b
Liferay Portal Security Information SECURITY
https://liferay.dev/portal/security/known-vulnerabilities/-/asset_publisher/jekt/content/CVE-2025-43796
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
http://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/8f7eb98e05a5ea6961346ecc21fd73e4b46bba99

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-43796?
CVE-2025-43796 is a security vulnerability in Liferay Portal involving Missing Rate Limiting in GraphQL Endpoint Enables Resource Exhaustion Attack under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Liferay Portal versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 40.2.0, 5.0.105 across affected packages: com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.api, com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.impl.
What version fixes CVE-2025-43796?
Upgrading to 40.2.0, 5.0.105 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is com.liferay.portal.vulcan.api affected?
Yes, com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.api is affected in releases prior to 40.2.0. Upgrade your dependency to 40.2.0 or later.
Is com.liferay.portal.vulcan.impl affected?
Yes, com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.impl is affected in releases prior to 5.0.105. Upgrade your dependency to 5.0.105 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-43796?
CVE-2025-43796 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2025-43796?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.liferay'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-f3hf-r62c-mfrj",
  "modified" : "2025-09-15T13:46:24Z",
  "published" : "2025-09-12T21:32:14Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-43796" ],
  "summary" : "Liferay Portal: Missing Rate Limiting in GraphQL Endpoint Enables Resource Exhaustion Attack",
  "details" : "Liferay Portal 7.4.0 through 7.4.3.101, and Liferay DXP 2023.Q3.0 through 2023.Q3.4, 7.4 GA through update 92 and 7.3 GA though update 35 does not limit the number of objects returned from a GraphQL queries, which allows remote attackers to perform denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on the application by executing queries that return a large number of objects.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.api"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "8.0.2"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "40.2.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "com.liferay:com.liferay.portal.vulcan.impl"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "5.0.7"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "5.0.105"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-43796"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/2e4adf041e31f3474a14c29b7c135693f6529400"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/2f74f23982fb03238f9b4ae145c33a9c1084f07e"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/3780804b0d8f4f14bfca470a3e2e662bc6cef588"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/8344aec3bebcd2ca409794523d5db5be6047c3dd"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/83e77963499d4d3e7cc82cc48e63c992f6f29a6d"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/8dda4adc0e9e7b6f82d4b3959592cad61640309b"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://liferay.dev/portal/security/known-vulnerabilities/-/asset_publisher/jekt/content/CVE-2025-43796"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://github.com/liferay/liferay-portal/commit/8f7eb98e05a5ea6961346ecc21fd73e4b46bba99"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-09-15T13:46:24Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-09-12T20:15:42Z"
  }
}