Vulnerability Database

326,895

Total vulnerabilities in the database

Apache Log4j Remote Code Execution

Impact

Opencast uses an Apache Log4j2 version which, combined with older JDK versions, can be used for remote code execution attacks which have been found to be actively exploited.

Apache Log4j2 <=2.14.1 JNDI features is not sufficiently protected. An attacker who can control log messages or log message parameters can execute arbitrary code when message lookup substitution is enabled.

Who is affected

  • Opencast before 9.10 or 10.6 are affected
    • Log4j version: all 2.x versions before 2.15.0 are affected

Patches

The issue has been fixed in Opencast 9.10 and 10.6.

Workarounds

The vulnerability can be mitigated by setting system property log4j2.formatMsgNoLookups to true.

References

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Note about dependencies

This issue affects many Java applications. Please also verify these are not vulnerable.

No technical information available.

No CWE or OWASP classifications available.

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.