Incomplete fix for Apache Log4j vulnerabilityGHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33
CRITICALGHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9) Expression Language Injection vulnerability in org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-05-01) and has been used in ransomware campaigns — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available for org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
Actively exploited in the wild
- Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-05-01 — including use in ransomware campaigns. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2023-05-22.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core☕org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core☕org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2☕org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2☕org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2☕org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2☕org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-coreReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
The fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15.0 was incomplete in certain non-default configurations. This could allow attackers with control over Thread Context Map (MDC) input data when the logging configuration uses a non-default Pattern Layout with either a Context Lookup (for example, $${ctx:loginId}) or a Thread Context Map pattern (%X, %mdc, or %MDC) to craft malicious input data using a JNDI Lookup pattern resulting in a remote code execution (RCE) attack.
Affected packages
Only the org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core package is directly affected by this vulnerability. The org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-api should be kept at the same version as the org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core package to ensure compatability if in use.
Mitigation
Log4j 2.16.0 fixes this issue by removing support for message lookup patterns and disabling JNDI functionality by default. This issue can be mitigated in prior releases (< 2.16.0) by removing the JndiLookup class from the classpath (example: zip -q -d log4j-core-*.jar org/apache/logging/log4j/core/lookup/JndiLookup.class).
Log4j 2.15.0 restricts JNDI LDAP lookups to localhost by default. Note that previous mitigations involving configuration such as to set the system property log4j2.formatMsgNoLookups to true do NOT mitigate this specific vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core | ≥ 2.13.0&&< 2.16.0 | 2.16.0org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:2.16.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core | ≥ 2.4.0&&< 2.12.2 | 2.12.2org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:2.12.2 |
| ☕Maven | org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2 | ≥ 1.8.0&&< 1.9.2 | 1.9.2org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2:1.9.2 |
| ☕Maven | org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2 | ≥ 1.10.0&&< 1.10.8 | 1.10.8org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2:1.10.8 |
| ☕Maven | org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2 | ≥ 1.11.0&&< 1.11.11 | 1.11.11org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2:1.11.11 |
| ☕Maven | org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2 | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.0.12 | 2.0.12org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2:2.0.12 |
Affected Products
log4japachecomputer vision annotation toolcvatdebian linuxdebianfedorafedoraprojectaudio development kitinteldatacenter managerintelResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
It was found that the fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15…
It was found that the fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15…
It was found that the fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15…
It was found that the fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15…
It was found that the fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15…
It was found that the fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15…
It was found that the fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15…
It was found that the fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15…
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core to 2.16.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
How to detect GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id ghsa-7rjr-3q55-vv33 -u https://target- Template
- Apache Log4j2 - Remote Code Injection
- Severity
- critical
- Impact
- Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
- Remediation
- Apply the latest security patches or upgrade to a non-vulnerable version of Apache Log4j2.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (ImNightmaree), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Although we have matched Apache's CVSS score, with the exception of the scope metric which will remain unaltered at "unchanged"; as we believe code execution would be at the permission levels of the running JVM and not exceeding that of the original CVE-2021-44228 flaw. We have given this vulnerability an impact…
For Log4j versions up to and including 2.15.0, this issue can be mitigated by removing the JndiLookup class from the classpath (example: zip -q -d log4j-core-*.jar org/apache/logging/log4j/core/lookup/JndiLookup.class).Source: Red Hat security advisory for GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| OpenShift Logging 5.0 | openshift-logging/elasticsearch6-rhel8:v5.0.10-1 | RHSA-2021:5137 |
| OpenShift Logging 5.1 | openshift-logging/elasticsearch6-rhel8:v6.8.1-67 | RHSA-2021:5128 |
| OpenShift Logging 5.2 | openshift-logging/elasticsearch6-rhel8:v6.8.1-66 | RHSA-2021:5127 |
| OpenShift Logging 5.3 | openshift-logging/elasticsearch6-rhel8:v6.8.1-65 | RHSA-2021:5129 |
| Red Hat AMQ Streams 2.0.0 | see advisory | RHSA-2022:0138 |
| Red Hat Data Grid 8.2.3 | log4j-core | RHSA-2022:0205 |
| Red Hat Fuse 7.8.2, 7.9.1, 7.10.1 | log4j-core | RHSA-2022:0203 |
| Red Hat Integration Camel Extensions for Quarkus 2.2 | see advisory | RHSA-2022:0222 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.