CVE-2021-29050 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the terms of use page in Liferay Portal versions prior to 7.3.6, Liferay DXP 7.3 before service pack 1, and 7.2 before fix pack 11. This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to trick an authenticated user into unknowingly accepting the site's terms of use by enticing them to visit a maliciously crafted webpage. The core issue stems from insufficient CSRF protections on the terms of use acceptance functionality, enabling unauthorized state-changing requests without the user's explicit consent. Exploitation requires no prior authentication or elevated privileges but does require user interaction in the form of visiting a malicious URL. The vulnerability impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability as it can be leveraged to manipulate user consent states, potentially enabling further unauthorized actions or bypassing user consent controls. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 8.8 (high severity), reflecting the network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, but requiring user interaction, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Although no known exploits have been reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk given Liferay Portal's widespread use in enterprise web portals and intranet applications. The lack of official patch links in the provided data suggests organizations should verify and apply the latest vendor updates or mitigations promptly to prevent exploitation.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2021-29050 can be substantial, especially for those relying on Liferay Portal or Liferay DXP for critical internal or customer-facing web services. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to manipulate user consent states, potentially bypassing legal or compliance requirements related to terms of use acceptance. This could lead to unauthorized access or actions within the portal, data leakage, or disruption of services, affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive information. Given the GDPR regulatory environment in Europe, unauthorized acceptance of terms could complicate compliance audits and expose organizations to legal liabilities. Furthermore, as Liferay is commonly used by government agencies, financial institutions, and large enterprises across Europe, the risk of targeted social engineering attacks exploiting this vulnerability is heightened. The requirement for user interaction means phishing or spear-phishing campaigns could be effective vectors, increasing the threat surface for European entities.

1. Immediate application of vendor-provided patches or updates to Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP versions that address this CSRF vulnerability is critical. Organizations should verify their current versions and upgrade to at least Liferay Portal 7.3.6, DXP 7.3 service pack 1, or DXP 7.2 fix pack 11 or later. 2. Implement additional CSRF protections such as synchronizer tokens or double-submit cookies on the terms of use acceptance endpoint if customizations exist. 3. Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules designed to detect and block CSRF attack patterns targeting Liferay portals. 4. Conduct user awareness training focused on recognizing social engineering attempts, particularly phishing campaigns that could lure users to malicious URLs. 5. Monitor web server and application logs for unusual POST requests to the terms of use page or unexpected changes in user consent states. 6. Restrict access to the terms of use acceptance functionality to trusted networks or users where feasible, reducing exposure to external attackers. 7. Review and tighten session management and authentication mechanisms to limit the impact of any unauthorized state changes.