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Apache log4net EUVDEUVD-2026-93863

| CVE-2026-105239 MEDIUM
Improper Neutralization of Null Byte or NUL Character (CWE-158)
2026-10-06 security@apache.org GHSA-wf3f-44xg-jxj3
5.3
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: apache
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Inject NUL byte into attacker-controlled input
  2. Exploit
    Data rendered by EventLogAppender into event text
  3. Execution
    ReportEventW truncates stored record at NUL
  4. Impact
    Trailing exception/audit fields silently dropped

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Metacharacter neutralization
Exploitation Conditions

Requires a Windows application running log4net 1.2.9 to before 3.5.0 AND configured to use EventLogAppender; applications on non-Windows platforms or using any other appender are not affected. The attacker must be able to get attacker-controlled data containing a NUL (\0) character into a value that the configured layout renders into the event text. Limiting factors: impact is confined to silently truncating/hiding the remainder of that single Windows Event Log record (exception text and trailing fields) - there is no code execution, confidentiality loss, or availability impact, and no error is raised, so the effect is log/audit suppression rather than system compromise.

Impact

This is a genuinely medium/low-priority issue, not a high-urgency flaw despite the AV:N network vector. The provided CVSS is 5.3 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N), with the only impact being low integrity (C:N/A:N) - specifically log-record integrity, i.e. an anti-forensics/log-tampering weakness (CWE-158), not data theft, privilege escalation, or code execution. No EPSS score, CISA KEV listing, or SSVC decision data was supplied, and there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis - the referenced GitHub commit and unit tests are the vendor fix, not weaponized exploit code, and must not be conflated with exploitation. The AV:N rating reflects that attacker-controlled input can traverse the network to eventually land in a logged field, but real exploitation also depends on narrow deployment conditions (Windows-only, EventLogAppender configured) and only lets an attacker silently truncate the tail of one Event Log entry. Note a nuance: the 'Information Disclosure' tag mischaracterizes the effect - the flaw HIDES data from the log rather than disclosing it to the attacker, so the practical risk is evidence suppression/audit evasion by an already-active attacker, not confidentiality loss. Net: treat as a defense-in-depth/log-integrity fix to schedule, not an emergency.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who can influence any value that log4net renders into a Windows Event Log entry (for example a username, HTTP header, or search term) embeds a NUL (\0) byte in that value. Because ReportEventW treats the string as null-terminated, everything the layout renders after the NUL - including exception text and trailing audit fields - is silently dropped from the stored record, letting the attacker conceal evidence of their activity. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis; the attack requires only the ability to get crafted data into a logged message on an affected Windows deployment.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 06, 2026

Log-record truncation in Apache log4net's EventLogAppender silently drops everything a layout renders after a NUL (\0) character, so a party whose data reaches a log message can hide the remainder of that Windows Event Log record - including exception text and trailing fields - with no error raised. The flaw (CWE-158, CVSS 5.3, AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N) affects Apache log4net from 1.2.9 before 3.5.0 and only Windows applications configured to use EventLogAppender; non-Windows hosts and any other appender are unaffected. Impact is limited to integrity of a single log entry (no code execution, confidentiality or availability loss), and no public exploit code was identified at time of analysis - this is a medium/low-priority log-suppression issue rather than an urgent compromise vector. The upstream fix escapes NUL characters before the message-size limit is applied and is shipped in log4net 3.5.0.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: upgrade Apache log4net to 3.5.0, which escapes NUL characters before applying the event-log message size limit; the fix is tracked in the Apache advisory thread (https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/9fx1qo5hc0tg8ym0t6p9gt1zpb2qlxpq) and in commit dc5855a0720c91590fd7a81d729ea01fdd69e000 / pull request apache/logging-log4net#315. If the upgrade cannot be deployed immediately, the highest-fidelity compensating control is to remove or replace NUL bytes from the rendered event text before it reaches EventLogAppender - for example a custom layout/converter or a sanitizing wrapper appender that substitutes \0 for the raw byte - but such a shim must be applied before any truncation to the maximum message size, since escaping doubles each NUL and post-truncation escaping can push a near-limit record back over the cap that 3.5.0 handles correctly. A coarser alternative is to stop using EventLogAppender on affected Windows hosts and route logs to a file or shipper-based appender, accepting that this changes the log destination and can break existing Event Log-based collection, forwarding, and alerting. Sanitizing attacker-controlled input fields upstream wherever they feed into log messages reduces the exposure but does not fix the appender itself, and because WriteEntry raises no error when truncation occurs, defenders should not rely on exceptions or failure signals to detect exploitation - monitor for anomalously short or abruptly terminated Windows Event Log records from affected applications.

Affected VersionsENISA

Apache log4net 02e1e115435888485f2e28b414d267e39e799e07 <dc5855a0720c91590fd7a81d729ea01fdd69e000
Apache log4net 1.2.9 <3.5.0

Affected Packages

euvd apache_log4net fix: 3.5.0

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

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

Technical ContextAI · show details

The root cause is CWE-158, improper neutralization of a null byte/NUL character - an in-band special-character injection class in which a delimiter meaningful to a downstream consumer is accepted verbatim from data. Apache log4net's EventLogAppender renders the logging event to a string via the configured layout and passes it to the Win32 Event Log API, whose WriteEntry ultimately calls ReportEventW; that API takes a null-terminated LPWSTR, so any embedded NUL terminates the stored record at that offset. The appender's prior code rendered the event, truncated it to the configured maximum event-log message size (~32K characters), and wrote it with no sanitization, so a NUL planted by any party whose data is rendered into the message caused the tail of the record to be silently discarded rather than written. The upstream commit (dc5855a0720c91590fd7a81d729ea01fdd69e000, PR apache/logging-log4net#315) introduces a private PrepareEventText helper that calls NativeStringEscape.EscapeNulCharacters first and only then applies the size limit - order is significant because escaping doubles each NUL and escaping after truncation could push a near-limit message back over the cap. New unit tests in EventLogAppenderTest.cs assert NULs are escaped, that escaping precedes the limit, and that NUL-free messages pass through unchanged; the changelog records a measured case on Windows 11 build 26200 where a 45-character message with a NUL at offset 23 stored only the 23-character prefix.

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Severity by source

Vendor (apache) PRIMARY 5.3 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
vuln.today AI 5.3 MEDIUM

Attacker-controlled data reaching a logged message needs no privileges or interaction (AV:N/PR:N/UI:N/AC:L); only log-record integrity is affected (I:L), with no confidentiality or availability impact.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (apache).

CVSS VectorVendor: apache

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

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Patch available
Oct 06, 2026 - 21:05 EUVD
CVE Published
Oct 06, 2026 - 20:17 cve.org
MEDIUM 5.3

DescriptionCVE.org

Improper Neutralization of Null Byte or NUL Character vulnerability in the EventLogAppender of Apache log4net.

A NUL character in logged content ended the Windows Event Log record at that point, so everything the layout rendered after it, including exception text and trailing fields, was silently not stored. A party whose data reaches a log message could hide the rest of that record. Only applications on Windows that use EventLogAppender are affected.

This issue affects Apache log4net: from 1.2.9 before 3.5.0.

Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.5.0, which fixes the issue.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 75% exploitable
Prevalence
High
log4net is a widely used .NET logging library in enterprise Windows applications
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

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 MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
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
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

26
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +26
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

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