Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This CVE describes a stored XSS issue in Liferay DXP's Document and Media upload workflow. An authenticated user could place script or HTML in the description field of an uploaded SVG, which may later run when another user views it. Business impact is mainly account/session risk and content integrity, not service outage.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate priority for Liferay environments with contributor uploads. Prioritize portals with many authenticated users, partner access, or privileged administrators likely to view uploaded media.
Technical view
CVE-2022-38901 is CWE-79 in Liferay Digital Experience Platform 7.3.10 SP3. CVSS 3.1 is 5.4: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N. The issue is authenticated persistent XSS via the uploaded SVG description field in Document and Media. Provided affected-product metadata is incomplete beyond the description.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where Liferay DXP 7.3.10 SP3 is used and authenticated users can upload SVG files through Document and Media. Public source metadata does not establish broader affected versions.
Exploitation context
The CVE is not listed as KEV in the provided bundle, and no source claims active exploitation. Exploitation requires an authenticated user and another user interaction with the stored content.
Researcher notes
The strongest evidence identifies authenticated persistent XSS in Liferay DXP 7.3.10 SP3. The CVE affected-product fields are n/a, so avoid assuming other versions without vendor confirmation.
Mitigation direction
- Check Liferay guidance for the supported fix or upgrade path.
- Restrict SVG upload rights to trusted roles only.
- Review uploaded SVG descriptions for unsafe HTML or script content.
- Consider disabling SVG uploads if not business-critical.
- Monitor CMS content changes by low-privileged accounts.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Liferay DXP instances and confirm exact version and service pack.
- Check whether Document and Media permits SVG uploads.
- Review user roles allowed to upload or edit media descriptions.
- Use safe authenticated testing to confirm whether descriptions are rendered unsafely.
- Verify any vendor fix or configuration change in a staging environment.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-79: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupFile access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2022-38901 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N2.32.7CISA-ADPVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://drive.proton.me/urls/D27RQ14NGW#b71d8XrBl2MuCVE reference, mitre
- https://www.offensity.com/en/blog/authenticated-persistent-xss-in-liferay-dxp-cms-cve-2022-38901-and-cve-2022-38902/CVE reference, mitre
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.