Vulnerability in Apache Log4j
CVE-2025-68161
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.
EPSS: 0.008 (54.7th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 4.8 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N.
Affected products
- Apache Log4j — versions 2.0
- Apache Software Foundation Log4j Core — versions 2.0-beta9, 3.0.0-alpha1
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- security@apache.org (Patch, patch, Issue Tracking)
- security@apache.org (Exploit, vendor-advisory, Vendor Advisory)
- security@apache.org (vendor-advisory, Vendor Advisory)
- security@apache.org (related, Product)
- security@apache.org (related, Product)
- security@apache.org (vendor-advisory, Mailing List)
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 (Mailing List)
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-68161?
- CVE-2025-68161 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apache Log4j, classified under Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch. CVSS score: 4.8/10. Published 2025-12-18.
- How severe is CVE-2025-68161?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.8 out of 10.