How severe is GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33?

GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 has a CVSS score of 9/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33?

GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 affects the following packages: org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core (Maven), org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core (Maven), org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2 (Maven), org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2 (Maven), org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2 (Maven), org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2 (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33?

Update org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core to version 2.16.0 or later. Run your dependency manager's update command and verify no transitive dependencies pin the vulnerable version. Use O3 Security's SCA scanner to confirm the fix is applied across your entire dependency tree.

Is GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 13 known exploit references for GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33, including 8 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33?

GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 94.3%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 (Apache Log4j2 Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2023-05-01. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2023-05-22. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. This CVE has been used in known ransomware campaigns. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

CISA KEV·Added 2023-05-01 — agencies required to remediate by 2023-05-22 · Ransomware

☕ Maven

GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33

Q: What is GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33?

# Impact The fix to address [CVE-2021-44228](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/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:log

Q: Can O3 Security detect GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 in my codebase?

Yes. O3 Security's Impact-Aware SCA scanner identifies GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 across all affected ecosystems (Maven), correlates it against your dependency graph, and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable in your application — eliminating false positives. You can scan your stack for GHSA-7rjr-3q55-vv33 directly from the O3 platform.

CRITICAL

Incomplete fix for Apache Log4j vulnerability

Also known asCVE-2021-45046

Published

Dec 14, 2021

Updated

Oct 22, 2025

Affected

6 pkgs

Patched

6 / 6

Exploits

13 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

94.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk100th percentile0.00%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

6 pkgs affected

☕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

Real-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

6 total 6 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core`	≥ 2.13.0&&< 2.16.0	2.16.0
☕Maven	`org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core`	all versions	2.12.2
☕Maven	`org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2`	≥ 1.8.0&&< 1.9.2	1.9.2
☕Maven	`org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2`	≥ 1.10.0&&< 1.10.8	1.10.8
☕Maven	`org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2`	≥ 1.11.0&&< 1.11.11	1.11.11
☕Maven	`org.ops4j.pax.logging:pax-logging-log4j2`	≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.0.12	2.0.12

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.