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Log4J CVE-2023-26464

HIGH
Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502)
2023-03-10 security@apache.org
7.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Safe deserialization, type allowlists
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Initial Access

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could execute arbitrary code through malicious serialized objects by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 1.9% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED When using the Chainsaw or SocketAppender components with Log4j 1.x on JRE less than 1.7, an attacker that manages to cause a logging entry involving a. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Avoid deserializing untrusted data. Use safe serialization formats (JSON). Implement integrity checks and type allowlists.

Affected Packages

maven log4j:log4j fix: 2.0
maven org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core fix: 2.0

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 2 packages in maven

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502), which allows attackers to execute arbitrary code through malicious serialized objects. UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED When using the Chainsaw or SocketAppender components with Log4j 1.x on JRE less than 1.7, an attacker that manages to cause a logging entry involving a specially-crafted (ie, deeply nested) hashmap or hashtable (depending on which logging component is in use) to be processed could exhaust the available memory in the virtual machine and achieve Denial of Service when the object is deserialized. Affected users are recommended to update to Log4j 2.x. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer. Affected products include: Apache Log4J. Version information: before 2..

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED

When using the Chainsaw or SocketAppender components with Log4j 1.x on JRE less than 1.7, an attacker that manages to cause a logging entry involving a specially-crafted (ie, deeply nested) hashmap or hashtable (depending on which logging component is in use) to be processed could exhaust the available memory in the virtual machine and achieve Denial of Service when the object is deserialized.

This issue affects Apache Log4j before 2. Affected users are recommended to update to Log4j 2.x.

NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
1.9%
Top 23% exploitable
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 1.9%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

40
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +2
CVSS: +38
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Insecure deserialization occurs when an application converts serialized data (a stream of bytes representing an object's state) back into a living object without proper validation.

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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