Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-68161

Crypto Weakness in Apache Log4J 2.0.1 – 2.25.3

Public PoCCrypto Weakness
Published
18 December 2025
Modified
20 January 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 6.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0076 52th percentile
Risk Priority 33 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-68161 is a medium-severity Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch (CWE-297) vulnerability in Apache Log4J. Its CVSS base score is 6.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Adversary-in-the-Middle (T1557); ranked in the top 48% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-17 (Public Key Infrastructure Certificates) and SC-23 (Session Authenticity) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A07:2025 Authentication Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

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…

more

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.

CWE(s)
CWE-297CWE-295

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1557 Adversary-in-the-Middle Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to position themselves between two or more networked devices using an adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) technique to support follow-on behaviors such as [Network Sniffing](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1557.002 ARP Cache Poisoning Credential Access
Adversaries may poison Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) caches to position themselves between the communication of two or more networked devices.
attack.mitre.org →
T1557.003 DHCP Spoofing Credential Access
Adversaries may redirect network traffic to adversary-owned systems by spoofing Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) traffic and acting as a malicious DHCP server on the victim network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1557.004 Evil Twin Credential Access
Adversaries may host seemingly genuine Wi-Fi access points to deceive users into connecting to malicious networks as a way of supporting follow-on behaviors such as [Network Sniffing](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1557.001 Name Resolution Poisoning and SMB Relay Credential Access
By responding to LLMNR/NBT-NS/mDNS network traffic, adversaries may spoof an authoritative source for name resolution to force communication with an adversary controlled system.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-34477Same product: Apache Log4J
CVE-2023-26464Same product: Apache Log4J
CVE-2026-49844Same product: Apache Log4J
CVE-2026-34479Same product: Apache Log4J
CVE-2026-34478Same product: Apache Log4J
CVE-2026-43869Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2026-34481Same product: Apache Log4J
CVE-2026-34480Same product: Apache Log4J
CVE-2023-39441Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2026-48144Same vendor: Apache

Affected Assets

apache
log4j
2.0 · 2.0.1 — 2.25.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 12 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V17.2.8

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SC-17 Public Key Infrastructure Certificates good match

PKI certificate issuance and acquisition under an approved policy establishes the trusted roots and processes needed for correct validation.

SC-23 Session Authenticity good match

Protecting session authenticity structurally requires proper certificate validation to bind the presented certificate to the intended host.

SC-8 Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity good match

Requiring confidentiality and integrity of transmitted data necessitates correct TLS certificate validation with host-name checking.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Security engineering principles require correct implementation of certificate validation (including hostname matching) when cryptography is used.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-03 mostly match
prevents

Certificate-based authentication of users/services/hardware directly depends on correct validation.

PR.DS-02 mostly match
prevents

Protecting data-in-transit integrity depends on proper certificate validation to prevent MITM.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices include coding correct certificate validation logic.

ID.RA-09 partial match
prevents

Assessing authenticity/integrity of acquired software often relies on code-signing certificate validation.

PR.AA-04 partial match
prevents

Identity assertions conveyed via certificates require validation to be verified.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect missing certificate validation and host-mismatch checks.

A.8.20 Networks security partial match
degrades

Network security controls include certificate validation and host-name verification to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.

A.8.21 Security of network services partial match
degrades

Security of network services requires proper TLS configuration and certificate validation for service endpoints.

A.8.24 Use of cryptography partial match
prevents

Use of cryptography mandates correct implementation of certificate validation and hostname verification.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include secure communication and certificate validation for external services.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
mitigates

Secure system architecture principles require proper certificate validation to protect communications.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (3 rules)
  • V-248574 YUM must be configured to prevent the installation of patches, service packs, device drivers, or OL 8 system components that have not been digitally signed using a certificate that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
  • V-248531 OL 8, for PKI-based authentication, must validate certificates by constructing a certification path (which includes status information) to an accepted trust anchor. prevents CWE-295
  • V-248575 OL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
  • V-204447 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components from a repository without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
  • V-204448 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
  • V-230264 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components from a repository without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
  • V-230265 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295

References