CVE-2020-7961

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—Trending — 3 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild

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

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated Jun 1, 2026

No patch confirmed yet.

generic

FreakOut – Leveraging Newest Vulnerabilities for creating a Botnet - Check Point Research

https://research.checkpoint.com/2021/freakout-leveraging-newest-vulnerabilities-for-creating-a-botnet/

generic

Packet Storm

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158392/Liferay-Portal-Remote-Code-Execution.html

generic

Packet Storm

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157254/Liferay-Portal-Java-Unmarshalling-Remote-Code-Execution.html

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 20× in last 7d / 20× 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.

2026-06-03 19:09 UTCkev_newly_listed
2026-06-03 18:09 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-03 14:02 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-03 09:55 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-03 05:48 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-03 01:41 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-02 21:34 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-02 20:11 UTCepss_batch
2026-06-02 20:11 UTCepss_batch
2026-06-02 18:32 UTCkev_newly_listed
2026-06-02 17:27 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-02 13:20 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-02 09:13 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-02 05:06 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-02 00:59 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-01 20:51 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-01 20:42 UTCkev_newly_listed
2026-06-01 16:44 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-01 12:36 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-01 08:29 UTCEG score recompute

Publicly available exploits

(7 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (4 GitHub PoCs) (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

GitHub PoCCrackerCat/CVE-2020-7961-Mass
First seen Apr 9, 2021
CVE-2020–7961 Mass exploit for Script Kiddies
Open source ↗
GitHub PoCShutdownRepo/CVE-2020-7961
First seen Jan 14, 2021
Exploit script for CVE-2020-7961
Open source ↗
GitHub PoCthelostworldFree/CVE-2020-7961-payloads
First seen May 23, 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)
Open source ↗
Exploit-DBEDB-48332✓ verified
First seen Apr 16, 2020
Liferay Portal - Java Unmarshalling via JSONWS RCE (Metasploit)
Open source ↗
GitHub PoCmzer0one/CVE-2020-7961-POC
First seen Mar 26, 2020
Open source ↗
Nucleihttp/cves/2020/CVE-2020-7961.yaml
First seen Jan 1, 2020
Liferay Portal Unauthenticated < 7.2.1 CE GA2 - Remote Code Execution
Open source ↗
Metasploitexploit/multi/http/liferay_java_unmarshalling✓ verified
First seen Nov 25, 2019
Liferay Portal Java Unmarshalling via JSONWS RCE
Open source ↗

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

Explore →

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2020-7961?

EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.

Start Free Scan →Browse All CVEs

CVE-2020-7961

📅 Published

🔄 Last Modified

📋 Advisory Details (3)

FreakOut – Leveraging Newest Vulnerabilities for creating a Botnet - Check Point Research

Packet Storm

Packet Storm

Affected Packages

Weakness Classification(1)

Data Freshness Timeline

Publicly available exploits

❓ Frequently asked(6)

Dependency Blast Radius

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2020-7961?

🔗 Related CVEs(same CWE)

Same CWE

Published

Last Modified

Advisory Details (3)

Frequently asked(6)

Related CVEs(same CWE)