SQL Injection in Apache Log4j

CVE-2022-23305

By design, the JDBCAppender in Log4j 1.2.x accepts an SQL statement as a configuration parameter where the values to be inserted are converters from PatternLayout. The message converter, %m, is likely to always be included. This allows attackers to manipulate the SQL by entering crafted strings into input fields or headers of an application that are logged allowing unintended SQL queries to be executed. Note this issue only affects Log4j 1.x when specifically configured to use the JDBCAppender, which is not the default. Beginning in version 2.0-beta8, the JDBCAppender was re-introduced with proper support for parameterized SQL queries and further customization over the columns written to in logs. Apache Log4j 1.2 reached end of life in August 2015. Users should upgrade to Log4j 2 as it addresses numerous other issues from the previous versions.

Vulnerability class: SQL Injection

EPSS: 0.665 (99.2th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-23305?
CVE-2022-23305 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Apache Log4j, classified under SQL Injection. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2022-01-18.
How severe is CVE-2022-23305?
Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2022-23305 known to be exploited?
39 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.