GHSA-vp98-w2p3-mv35 — log4j-core
HIGHGHSA-vp98-w2p3-mv35 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core. A fix is available for org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Log4j 1.x (EOL) allows Denial of Service (DoS)
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-vp98-w2p3-mv35.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-vp98-w2p3-mv35 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core☕log4j:log4jReal-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
** 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.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core | ≥ 1.0.4&&< 2.0 | 2.0org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:2.0 |
| ☕Maven | log4j:log4j | ≥ 1.0.4&&< 2.0 | 2.0log4j:log4j:2.0 |
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 2.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-vp98-w2p3-mv35 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-vp98-w2p3-mv35 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-vp98-w2p3-mv35. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
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.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9 security impacts have been reduced to Low as they do not enable the vulnerable JDK by default.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| OpenShift Developer Tools and Services for OCP 4.11 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:4.11.1686831822-1.el8 | RHSA-2023:3663 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7 | log4j | RHSA-2023:5488 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.1 EUS for RHEL 7 | eap7-apache-cxf-0:3.1.16-3.SP1_redhat_00001.1.ep7.el7 | RHSA-2024:10208 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.3 EUS for RHEL 7 | eap7-apache-cxf-0:3.4.10-1.SP1_redhat_00001.1.el7eap | RHSA-2024:10207 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 8 | eap7-activemq-artemis-0:2.16.0-15.redhat_00049.1.el8eap | RHSA-2023:5485 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 9 | eap7-activemq-artemis-0:2.16.0-15.redhat_00049.1.el9eap | RHSA-2023:5486 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 on RHEL 7 | eap7-activemq-artemis-0:2.16.0-15.redhat_00049.1.el7eap | RHSA-2023:5484 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-vp98-w2p3-mv35 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-vp98-w2p3-mv35 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.