CVE-2022-42119 is a medium-severity Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting certain versions of Liferay Portal and Liferay DXP, specifically Liferay Portal versions 7.3.5 through 7.4.2 and Liferay DXP 7.3 prior to update 8. The vulnerability resides in the Commerce module of these products. XSS vulnerabilities occur when an application includes untrusted data in a web page without proper validation or escaping, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of the victim's browser. In this case, the vulnerability requires that the attacker have at least some level of privileges (PR:L) and that the victim user interacts with the malicious content (UI:R). The CVSS vector indicates the attack can be performed remotely over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L). The scope is changed (S:C), meaning the vulnerability can affect resources beyond the initially vulnerable component. The impact includes limited confidentiality and integrity loss (C:L/I:L), but no impact on availability (A:N). Exploitation could allow an attacker to steal session cookies, perform actions on behalf of the victim user, or manipulate displayed content, potentially leading to further attacks such as privilege escalation or data leakage. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches or updates are linked in the provided data, though Liferay has released updates addressing this issue in versions after those affected. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79, which is the standard classification for XSS issues.

For European organizations using affected versions of Liferay Portal or DXP, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to web application confidentiality and integrity. Since Liferay is widely used for enterprise portals, intranets, and e-commerce platforms, exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive business information or manipulation of commerce-related data. The requirement for some level of privileges to exploit the vulnerability limits exposure to external unauthenticated attackers but does not eliminate risk from insider threats or compromised accounts. The changed scope indicates that exploitation could affect components beyond the Commerce module, potentially impacting other integrated services or data. Given the medium severity and the nature of the vulnerability, organizations could face reputational damage, regulatory compliance issues (especially under GDPR if personal data is exposed), and financial losses due to fraud or data manipulation. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not preclude targeted attacks, especially in sectors with high-value commerce operations or sensitive internal portals.

European organizations should prioritize upgrading Liferay Portal and DXP installations to versions beyond those affected (post 7.4.2 for Portal and update 8 for DXP) where the vulnerability is patched. If immediate upgrading is not feasible, organizations should implement strict input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data within the Commerce module to prevent script injection. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts in browsers. Limit user privileges to the minimum necessary to reduce the risk of exploitation by low-privilege users. Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focusing on web application vulnerabilities, especially XSS. Monitor web logs for unusual activity indicative of attempted XSS attacks. Additionally, educate users about the risks of interacting with suspicious links or content within the portal environment. Network segmentation and web application firewalls (WAFs) configured to detect and block XSS payloads can provide additional layers of defense.