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.
Configurations

Configuration 1 (hide)

OR cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:beta9:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:rc1-rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*

History

20 Jan 2026, 01:15

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
  • () https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2026/01/msg00015.html -

12 Jan 2026, 15:26

Type Values Removed Values Added
References () https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4002 - () https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4002 - Issue Tracking, Patch
References () https://lists.apache.org/thread/xr33kyxq3sl67lwb61ggvm1fzc8k7dvx - () https://lists.apache.org/thread/xr33kyxq3sl67lwb61ggvm1fzc8k7dvx - Mailing List
References () https://logging.apache.org/cyclonedx/vdr.xml - () https://logging.apache.org/cyclonedx/vdr.xml - Vendor Advisory
References () https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/appenders/network.html#SslConfiguration-attr-verifyHostName - () https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/appenders/network.html#SslConfiguration-attr-verifyHostName - Product
References () https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/systemproperties.html#log4j2.sslVerifyHostName - () https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/systemproperties.html#log4j2.sslVerifyHostName - Product
References () https://logging.apache.org/security.html#CVE-2025-68161 - () https://logging.apache.org/security.html#CVE-2025-68161 - Exploit, Vendor Advisory
References () http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/12/18/1 - () http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/12/18/1 - Mailing List
First Time Apache log4j
Apache
CWE CWE-295
CVSS v2 : unknown
v3 : unknown
v2 : unknown
v3 : 4.8
CPE cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:beta9:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:rc1-rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:2.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*

18 Dec 2025, 22:16

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
  • () http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/12/18/1 -

18 Dec 2025, 21:15

Type Values Removed Values Added
New CVE

Information

Published : 2025-12-18 21:15

Updated : 2026-01-20 01:15


NVD link : CVE-2025-68161

Mitre link : CVE-2025-68161

CVE.ORG link : CVE-2025-68161


JSON object : View

Products Affected

apache

  • log4j
CWE
CWE-297

Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch

CWE-295

Improper Certificate Validation