How severe is CVE-2021-38266?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.

Is CVE-2021-38266 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Vulnerability in Liferay Digital Experience Platform

CVE-2021-38266

The Portal Security module in Liferay Portal 7.2.1 and earlier, and Liferay DXP 7.0 before fix pack 90, 7.1 before fix pack 17 and 7.2 before fix pack 5 does not correctly import users from LDAP, which allows remote attackers to prevent a legitimate user from authenticating by attempting to sign in as a user that exist in LDAP.

Published 2022-03-02 · last modified 2026-07-09.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.017 (76.8th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 77th percentile — 76.8% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.017 · newest: 0.017 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Liferay Digital Experience Platform — versions 7.0, 7.1, 7.2
Liferay Portal

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 (Vendor Advisory)
portal.liferay.dev/learn/security/known-vulnerabilities/-/asset_publisher/HbL5m… (Vendor Advisory)
issues.liferay.com/browse/LPE-17191 (Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-38266?: CVE-2021-38266 is a high-severity vulnerability in Liferay Digital Experience Platform. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2022-03-02.
How severe is CVE-2021-38266?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2021-38266 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.