# CVE-2021-33320: Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP vulnerable to email spam via lack of flagging rate

> Authenticated users can spam site administrators with emails by exploiting a lack of rate limiting in the Flags module, causing resource exhaustion.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Aug 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wg4x-hf94-fj5v

## What is CVE-2021-33320?

CVE-2021-33320 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Liferay Digital Experience Platform, published on 3 Aug 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Flags module in Liferay Portal 7.3.1 and earlier, and Liferay DXP 7.0 before fix pack 96, 7.1 before fix pack 20, and 7.2 before fix pack 5, does not limit the rate at which content can be flagged as inappropriate, which allows remote authenticated users to spam the site administrator with emails

Weakness: CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-33320?

8 open source packages ship an affected version, including com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom and com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib. It affects 2 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom` | Maven | From 7.0.0 | 7.0.10.fp96 |
| `com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom` | Maven | From 7.0.0 | 7.0.10.fp96 |
| `com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom` | Maven | From 7.1.0 | 7.1.10.fp20 |
| `com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom` | Maven | From 7.1.0 | 7.1.10.fp20 |
| `com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom` | Maven | From 7.2.0 | 7.2.10.fp5 |
| `com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom` | Maven | From 7.2.0 | 7.2.10.fp5 |
| `com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib` | Maven | All versions | 5.0.11 |
| `com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib` | Maven | All versions | 5.0.11 |

Products: Liferay Digital Experience Platform, Liferay Liferay Portal.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-33320?

Upgrade com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom to a fixed version for your release line: 7.0.10.fp96, 7.1.10.fp20 or 7.2.10.fp5.

## Is CVE-2021-33320 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-33320 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Liferay Digital Experience Platform

- [CVE-2024-8980](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-8980/): Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP Vulnerable to CSRF in the Script Console (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2023-42496](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42496/): Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP vulnerable to reflected Cross-site Scripting (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2023-42498](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42498/): Liferay Portal Language Override edit screen and Liferay DXP vulnerable to reflected Cross-site Scripting (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2024-25147](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-25147/): Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2024-26269](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26269/): Liferay Portal Frontend JS module's portlet.js and Liferay DXP vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting (critical 9.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-33320 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-33320 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Liferay Digital Experience Platform, published on 3 Aug 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-33320 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven): affected from 7.0.0; fixed in 7.0.10.fp96
- com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven): affected from 7.0.0; fixed in 7.0.10.fp96
- com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven): affected from 7.1.0; fixed in 7.1.10.fp20
- com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven): affected from 7.1.0; fixed in 7.1.10.fp20
- com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven): affected from 7.2.0; fixed in 7.2.10.fp5
- com.liferay.portal:release.dxp.bom (Maven): affected from 7.2.0; fixed in 7.2.10.fp5
- com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 5.0.11
- com.liferay:com.liferay.flags.taglib (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 5.0.11

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-33320/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-33320/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-33320
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-33320
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-33320

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-33320/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.