CVE-2020-7961

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—

9.8

Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Liferay Portal prior to 7.2.1 CE GA2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via JSON web services (JSONWS).

CVSS v3: 9.8
EG Score: 9.8(high)
EPSS: 100.0%
KEV: ⚠ Exploited

Published

March 20, 2020

Last Modified

November 7, 2025

References (11)

cve@mitrehttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157254/Liferay-Portal-Java-Unmarshalling-Remote-Code-Execution.html
cve@mitrehttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158392/Liferay-Portal-Remote-Code-Execution.html
cve@mitrehttps://portal.liferay.dev/learn/security/known-vulnerabilities
cve@mitrehttps://portal.liferay.dev/learn/security/known-vulnerabilities/-/asset_publisher/HbL5mxmVrnXW/content/id/117954271
cve@mitrehttps://research.checkpoint.com/2021/freakout-leveraging-newest-vulnerabilities-for-creating-a-botnet/
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157254/Liferay-Portal-Java-Unmarshalling-Remote-Code-Execution.html
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158392/Liferay-Portal-Remote-Code-Execution.html
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://portal.liferay.dev/learn/security/known-vulnerabilities
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://portal.liferay.dev/learn/security/known-vulnerabilities/-/asset_publisher/HbL5mxmVrnXW/content/id/117954271
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://research.checkpoint.com/2021/freakout-leveraging-newest-vulnerabilities-for-creating-a-botnet/
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-7961

Affected Packages

(1 across 1 ecosystem)

Maven(1)

Package	Vulnerable range	Fixed in	Dependents
com.liferay.portal:com.liferay.portal.kernel	1.0.0 ... 4.9.0 (569 versions)	4.35.3	—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 4× in last 7d / 4× in last 30d)

Every time one of our enrichment pipelines (NVD, MITRE cvelistV5, EPSS, CISA KEV, GHSA, OSV, vendor advisories) ran against this CVE. Most recent first.

2026-05-27 20:35 UTCkev_newly_listed
2026-05-26 19:17 UTCEG score recompute
2026-05-26 19:13 UTCkev_newly_listed
2026-05-26 08:16 UTCOSV refresh

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2020-7961?

CVE-2020-7961 is a critical vulnerability published on March 20, 2020. Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Liferay Portal prior to 7.2.1 CE GA2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via JSON web services (JSONWS).

When was CVE-2020-7961 disclosed?

CVE-2020-7961 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on March 20, 2020, with the most recent update on November 7, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.

Is CVE-2020-7961 actively exploited?

Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-7961 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on November 3, 2021, affecting Liferay Liferay Portal. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-7961?

CVE-2020-7961 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).

Which products are affected by CVE-2020-7961?

CVE-2020-7961 affects Liferay Liferay Portal. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.

How do I remediate CVE-2020-7961?

Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2020-7961, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2020-7961

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