CVE-2021-45046

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Moderate Moderate Impact What does this mean?
8.1 CVSS v3 Base Score

Description

A flaw was found in the Apache Log4j logging library in versions from 2.0.0 and before 2.16.0. A remote attacker with control over Thread Context Map (MDC) input data could craft malicious input using a JNDI Lookup pattern resulting in remote code execution (RCE) in a limited number of environments.

Statement

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 rating of Moderate, this is because of the unlikely nature of log4j lookup mapping values being derived from attacker controlled values. This is not the default configuration for end-applications using log4j 2.x and would require explicit action from a privileged user (a developer or administrator) to access the vulnerability. In certain non-default configurations, it was found that the fix to address CVE-2021-44228 in Apache Log4j 2.15.0 was insufficient.

This issue affects the log4j version between 2.0 and 2.15. Log4j 1.x is NOT impacted by this vulnerability.

Prerequisites to exploit this flaw are :

  • A remotely accessible endpoint with any protocol (HTTP, TCP, etc) that allows an attacker to send arbitrary data,
  • A log statement in the endpoint that logs the attacker controlled data.
  • Log4j configuration file should be explicitly configured to use a non-default Pattern Layout with a Context Lookup eg. ($${ctx:loginId})

In most cases, the mitigation suggested for CVE-2021-44228 (i.e. to set the system property log4j2.noFormatMsgLookup to `true) does NOT mitigate this specific vulnerability. Log4j 2.16.0 fixes this issue by removing support for message lookup patterns and disabling JNDI functionality by default.

For Elasticsearch, as shipped in OpenShift 3.11, the "log4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true" system property mitigation is sufficient as there are no included non-standard configurations that allow for exploitation:

Content from github.com is not included.https://github.com/openshift/openshift-ansible/blob/release-3.11/roles/openshift_logging_elasticsearch/templates/log4j2.properties.j2

Content from discuss.elastic.co is not included.https://discuss.elastic.co/t/apache-log4j2-remote-code-execution-rce-vulnerability-cve-2021-44228-esa-2021-31/291476

For CodeReady Studio the fix for this flaw is available on CodeReady Studio 12.21.3 and above versions.

Mitigation

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).

Additional Information

External References

Content from www.cve.org is not included.https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-45046

Content from nvd.nist.gov is not included.https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-45046

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-44228

Content from logging.apache.org is not included.https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/security.html

Content from www.openwall.com is not included.https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/12/14/4

Content from www.cisa.gov is not included.https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

Affected Packages and Issued Red Hat Security Errata

Products / Services Components State Errata
A-MQ Clients 2 log4j-core Not affected
OpenShift Logging 5.0 openshift-logging/elasticsearch6-rhel8 Fixed RHSA-2021:5137
OpenShift Logging 5.1 openshift-logging/elasticsearch6-rhel8 Fixed RHSA-2021:5128
OpenShift Logging 5.2 openshift-logging/elasticsearch6-rhel8 Fixed RHSA-2021:5127
OpenShift Logging 5.3 openshift-logging/elasticsearch6-rhel8 Fixed RHSA-2021:5129
Red Hat AMQ Broker 7 log4j Not affected
Red Hat AMQ Streams 2.0.0 Fixed RHSA-2022:0138
Red Hat Data Grid 8.2.3 log4j-core Fixed RHSA-2022:0205
Red Hat Decision Manager 7 log4j-core Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 log4j Not affected
Unless explicitly stated as not affected, all previous versions of packages in any minor update stream of a product listed here should be assumed vulnerable, although may not have been subject to full analysis.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authorities (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications ).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown Red Hat NVD
CVSS v3 Base Score 8.1 9
Attack Vector Network Network
Attack Complexity High High
Privileges Required None None
User Interaction None None
Scope Unchanged Changed
Confidentiality Impact High High
Integrity Impact High High
Availability Impact High High

CVSS v3 Vector

Red Hat CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

NVD CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?

 For open source software shipped by multiple vendors, the CVSS base scores may vary for each vendor's version depending on the version they ship, how they ship it, the platform, and even how the software is compiled. This makes scoring of vulnerabilities difficult for third-party vulnerability databases such as NVD that only provide a single CVSS base score for each vulnerability. Red Hat scores reflect how a vulnerability affects our products specifically.

For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/762393.

My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?
  • "Under investigation" doesn't necessarily mean that the product is affected by this vulnerability. It only means that our Analysis Team is still working on determining whether the product is affected and how it is affected.
  • "Affected" means that our Analysis Team has determined that this product is affected by this vulnerability and might release a fix to address this in the near future.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?

 A "will not fix" status means that a fix for an affected product version is not planned or not possible due to complexity, which may create additional risk.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Upgrade to a supported product version that includes a fix for this vulnerability (recommended).
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a This content is not included.support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

 A deferred status means that a fix for an affected product version is not guaranteed due to higher-priority development work.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a This content is not included.support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.
  • Red Hat Engineering focuses on addressing high-priority issues based on their complexity or limited lifecycle support. Therefore, lower-priority issues will not receive immediate fixes.

What is a mitigation?

 A mitigation is an action that can be taken to reduce the impact of a security vulnerability, without deploying any fixes.

I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

 The listed products were found to include one or more of the components that this vulnerability affects. These products underwent a thorough evaluation to determine their affectedness by this vulnerability. Note that layered products (such as container-based offerings) that consume affected components from any of the products listed in this table may be affected and are not represented.

Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?

 In order to maintain code stability and compatibility, Red Hat usually does not rebase packages to entirely new versions. Instead, we backport fixes and new features to an older version of the package we distribute. This can result in some security scanners that only consider the package version to report the package as vulnerable. To avoid this, we suggest that you use an approved vulnerability scanner from our This content is not included.Red Hat Vulnerability Scanner Certification program.

My product is listed as "Out of Support Scope". What does this mean?

 When a product is listed as "Out of Support Scope", it means a vulnerability with the impact level assigned to this CVE is no longer covered by its current support lifecycle phase. The product has been identified to contain the impacted component, but analysis to determine whether it is affected or not by this vulnerability was not performed. The product should be assumed to be affected. Customers are advised to apply any mitigation options documented on this page, consider removing or disabling the impacted component, or upgrade to a supported version of the product that has an update available.