// For flags

CVE-2025-68161

Apache Log4j Core: Missing TLS hostname verification in Socket appender

Severity Score

6.3
*CVSS v4

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

0
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

Track
*SSVC
Descriptions

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.

These are all security issues fixed in the log4j-2.20.0-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

*Credits: Samuli Leinonen
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
System
Vulnerable | Subsequent
Confidentiality
Low
None
Integrity
None
Low
Availability
None
None
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
None
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:Track
Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Tech. Impact
Partial
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2025-12-16 CVE Reserved
  • 2025-12-18 CVE Published
  • 2026-01-20 CVE Updated
  • 2026-03-04 EPSS Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
  • ---------- First Exploit
CWE
  • CWE-297: Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions
Vendor Product Version Other Status
Vendor Product Version Other Status <-- --> Vendor Product Version Other Status
Apache
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Log4j
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*-
Affected
Canonical
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Ubuntu Linux
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*-
Affected
Centos
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Centos
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*-
Affected
Debian
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Debian Linux
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*-
Affected
Redhat
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Enterprise Linux
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*-
Affected