Apache Log4j Core: Missing TLS hostname verification in Socket appender
Summary
Apache Log4j Core: Missing TLS hostname verification in Socket appender
Original description
The description as published by the source.
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.
Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD GitHub Advisory OSV
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68161 apache-log4j2 Fixed in: 2.17.1-1~deb11u2
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68161 apache-log4j2
References
- advisory github.com
- advisory lists.apache.org
- advisory logging.apache.org
- advisory logging.apache.org
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- patch github.com
- web openwall.com
- web lists.debian.org
- web logging.apache.org
- web logging.apache.org
- web repo.maven.apache.org