CVE-2022-42130 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting multiple versions of Liferay Portal (7.1.0 through 7.4.3.4) and Liferay DXP (7.1 before fix pack 27, 7.2 before fix pack 19, 7.3 before update 4, and 7.4 GA). The vulnerability resides in the Dynamic Data Mapping (DDM) module, which is responsible for managing form entries within the platform. Due to improper permission checks, remote authenticated users can bypass access controls and view or access all form entries, regardless of their authorization level. This issue is classified under CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions), indicating a failure to enforce proper access restrictions. The vulnerability requires the attacker to be authenticated but does not require user interaction beyond authentication. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3 (medium), reflecting that the attack vector is network-based with low attack complexity and privileges required, but only limited confidentiality impact and no integrity or availability impact. There are no known exploits in the wild, and no official patches or fix links were provided in the source data, though fix packs and updates addressing this issue have been released for affected versions. The vulnerability allows unauthorized disclosure of potentially sensitive data stored in form entries, which could include personal data, business information, or other confidential content depending on the deployment context. However, it does not allow modification or deletion of data, nor does it impact system availability.

For European organizations using affected versions of Liferay Portal or Liferay DXP, this vulnerability poses a risk of unauthorized data disclosure. Many enterprises, government agencies, and public sector entities in Europe rely on Liferay for content management and customer portals, often storing sensitive user-submitted data in forms. Unauthorized access to these form entries could lead to exposure of personal data protected under GDPR, resulting in regulatory penalties and reputational damage. While the vulnerability does not allow data modification or service disruption, the confidentiality breach alone can have significant compliance and trust implications. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, education, and public administration are particularly at risk due to the sensitive nature of the data they handle. The requirement for authentication limits the attack surface to insiders or compromised accounts, but given the low complexity of exploitation, attackers who gain legitimate credentials could leverage this flaw to escalate data access privileges. This could facilitate further targeted attacks or data exfiltration campaigns within European entities.

1. Immediate application of the latest Liferay fix packs and updates that address CVE-2022-42130 is critical. Organizations should verify their Liferay version and upgrade to versions where this vulnerability is patched (e.g., fix pack 27 for 7.1, fix pack 19 for 7.2, update 4 for 7.3, or later for 7.4). 2. Implement strict access control policies and role-based permissions within Liferay to minimize the number of users with form entry access. 3. Conduct regular audits of user accounts and permissions to detect and remove unnecessary or stale accounts, reducing the risk of credential abuse. 4. Enhance authentication mechanisms, such as enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA), to reduce the risk of account compromise. 5. Monitor logs for unusual access patterns to form entries, especially from authenticated users accessing data beyond their normal scope. 6. If immediate patching is not feasible, consider applying web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the DDM module endpoints. 7. Educate users and administrators about the risk of credential theft and the importance of secure password practices to prevent unauthorized access. 8. Review and restrict API access tokens or integrations that may allow authenticated access to form data, ensuring least privilege principles are followed.