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CVE-2025-68161 (GCVE-0-2025-68161)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-12-18 20:47 – Updated: 2026-04-10 16:18
VLAI
Title
Apache Log4j Core: Missing TLS hostname verification in Socket appender
Summary
The Socket Appender in Apache Log4j Core versions 2.0-beta9 through 2.25.2 does not perform TLS hostname verification of the peer certificate, even when the verifyHostName https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/appenders/network.html#SslConfiguration-attr-verifyHostName configuration attribute or the log4j2.sslVerifyHostName https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/systemproperties.html#log4j2.sslVerifyHostName system property is set to true. This issue may allow a man-in-the-middle attacker to intercept or redirect log traffic under the following conditions: * The attacker is able to intercept or redirect network traffic between the client and the log receiver. * The attacker can present a server certificate issued by a certification authority trusted by the Socket Appender’s configured trust store (or by the default Java trust store if no custom trust store is configured). Users are advised to upgrade to Apache Log4j Core version 2.25.3, which addresses this issue. As an alternative mitigation, the Socket Appender may be configured to use a private or restricted trust root to limit the set of trusted certificates.
Severity
6.3 (Medium)
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N
SSVC
Exploitation: none Automatable: no Technical Impact: partial
CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)
Decision recorded 2025-12-18 21:34 UTC
CWE
  • CWE-297 - Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Apache Software Foundation Apache Log4j Core Affected: 2.0-beta9 , < 2.25.3 (maven)
Affected: 3.0.0-alpha1 , ≤ 3.0.0-beta3 (maven)
    cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Create a notification for this product.
Credits
Samuli Leinonen
Show details on NVD website
To clipboard 

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                      },
                      {
                        "Technical Impact": "partial"
                      }
                    ],
                    "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                    "timestamp": "2025-12-18T21:34:24.735166Z",
                    "version": "2.0.3"
                  },
                  "type": "ssvc"
                }
              }
            ],
            "providerMetadata": {
              "dateUpdated": "2025-12-18T21:00:27.910Z",
              "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
              "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
            },
            "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
          }
        ],
        "cna": {
          "affected": [
            {
              "collectionURL": "https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2",
              "cpes": [
                "cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*"
              ],
              "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
              "packageName": "org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core",
              "packageURL": "pkg:maven/org.apache.logging.log4j/log4j-core",
              "product": "Apache Log4j Core",
              "vendor": "Apache Software Foundation",
              "versions": [
                {
                  "lessThan": "2.25.3",
                  "status": "affected",
                  "version": "2.0-beta9",
                  "versionType": "maven"
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                {
                  "lessThanOrEqual": "3.0.0-beta3",
                  "status": "affected",
                  "version": "3.0.0-alpha1",
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          ],
          "credits": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "finder",
              "value": "Samuli Leinonen"
            }
          ],
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "supportingMedia": [
                {
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                  "type": "text/html",
                  "value": "\u003cp\u003eThe Socket Appender in Apache Log4j Core versions \u003ccode\u003e2.0-beta9\u003c/code\u003e through \u003ccode\u003e2.25.2\u003c/code\u003e does not perform TLS hostname verification of the peer certificate, even when the \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/appenders/network.html#SslConfiguration-attr-verifyHostName\"\u003everifyHostName\u003c/a\u003e configuration attribute or the \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/systemproperties.html#log4j2.sslVerifyHostName\"\u003elog4j2.sslVerifyHostName\u003c/a\u003e system property is set to \u003ccode\u003etrue\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis issue may allow a man-in-the-middle attacker to intercept or redirect log traffic under the following conditions:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eThe attacker is able to intercept or redirect network traffic between the client and the log receiver.\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003eThe attacker can present a server certificate issued by a certification authority trusted by the Socket Appender\u2019s configured \u003cstrong\u003etrust store\u003c/strong\u003e (or by the default Java trust store if no custom trust store is configured).\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsers are advised to upgrade to Apache Log4j Core version \u003ccode\u003e2.25.3\u003c/code\u003e, which addresses this issue.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs an alternative mitigation, the Socket Appender may be configured to use a private or restricted trust root to limit the set of trusted certificates.\u003c/p\u003e"
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              ],
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            }
          ],
          "metrics": [
            {
              "other": {
                "content": {
                  "text": "moderate"
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                "type": "Textual description of severity"
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            },
            {
              "cvssV4_0": {
                "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "attackComplexity": "HIGH",
                "attackRequirements": "NONE",
                "attackVector": "NETWORK",
                "baseScore": 6.3,
                "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
                "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
                "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
                "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "subIntegrityImpact": "LOW",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N",
                "version": "4.0",
                "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
                "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "LOW",
                "vulnIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
                "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED"
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              "format": "CVSS",
              "scenarios": [
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                  "value": "GENERAL"
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          "problemTypes": [
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              "descriptions": [
                {
                  "cweId": "CWE-297",
                  "description": "CWE-297 Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch",
                  "lang": "en",
                  "type": "CWE"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "providerMetadata": {
            "dateUpdated": "2026-04-10T16:18:50.424Z",
            "orgId": "f0158376-9dc2-43b6-827c-5f631a4d8d09",
            "shortName": "apache"
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          "references": [
            {
              "tags": [
                "patch"
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              "url": "https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4002"
            },
            {
              "tags": [
                "vendor-advisory"
              ],
              "url": "https://logging.apache.org/security.html#CVE-2025-68161"
            },
            {
              "tags": [
                "vendor-advisory"
              ],
              "url": "https://logging.apache.org/cyclonedx/vdr.xml"
            },
            {
              "tags": [
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              "url": "https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/systemproperties.html#log4j2.sslVerifyHostName"
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              "url": "https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/appenders/network.html#SslConfiguration-attr-verifyHostName"
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            {
              "tags": [
                "vendor-advisory"
              ],
              "url": "https://lists.apache.org/thread/xr33kyxq3sl67lwb61ggvm1fzc8k7dvx"
            }
          ],
          "source": {
            "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
          },
          "title": "Apache Log4j Core: Missing TLS hostname verification in Socket appender",
          "x_generator": {
            "engine": "Vulnogram 0.2.0"
          }
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      },
      "cveMetadata": {
        "assignerOrgId": "f0158376-9dc2-43b6-827c-5f631a4d8d09",
        "assignerShortName": "apache",
        "cveId": "CVE-2025-68161",
        "datePublished": "2025-12-18T20:47:49.123Z",
        "dateReserved": "2025-12-16T11:30:53.875Z",
        "dateUpdated": "2026-04-10T16:18:50.424Z",
        "state": "PUBLISHED"
      },
      "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
      "dataVersion": "5.2"
    }
  }
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.


Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.