Summary
Security Advisory for "Log4Shell"
Workarounds
For users that an upgrade is not an option, below mitigations can be applied.
Disabling lookups via Environment Variable
Setting the environment variable LOG4J_FORMAT_MSG_NO_LOOKUPS=true .
This option is the easiest to apply for containerized environments.
Disabling lookups in log4j2 configuration
Another good option since there is no need to replace JARs or no need to modify logging configuration file, users who cannot upgrade to 2.17.0 can mitigate the exposure by:
Users of Log4j 2.10 or greater may add -Dlog4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true as a command line option or add -Dlog4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true in a log4j2.component.properties file on the classpath to prevent lookups in log event messages.
Users since Log4j 2.7 may specify %m{nolookups} in the PatternLayout configuration to prevent lookups in log event messages.
As an example; users deploying Hazelcast Management Center via helm charts can do the following to disable lookups and restart in one command:
helm upgrade <release-name> hazelcast/hazelcast --set mancenter.javaOpts="<javaOpts> -Dlog4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true"
Where is the release name and is existing java options user has added previously.
Removing the JndiLookup from classpath
Remove the JndiLookup and JndiManager classes from the log4j-core jar. Note that removal of the JndiManager will cause the JndiContextSelector and JMSAppender to no longer function.
References
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-44228
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-45046
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-45105
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-44832
https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/index.html
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in our repo
- Slack us at Hazelcast Community Slack
Impact
A highly critical 0-day exploit (CVE-2021-44228) is found in Apache log4j 2 library on December 9, 2021.
This affects Apache log4j versions from 2.0-beta9 to 2.14.1 (inclusive).
This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute code on the server if the system logs an attacker-controlled string value with the attacker's JNDI LDAP server lookup.
Another vulnerability related to the same library, which was discovered on 12/14/2021 (CVE-2021-45046) and revealed another Remote Code Execution vulnerability, has been investigated by Hazelcast team as well and it is found that it does not affect Hazelcast Products under default configurations.
The finding of CVE-2021-45105 on 12/14/2021, which can cause a Denial of Service attack, was investigated by Hazelcast team and it is confirmed that it does not affect Hazelcast Products under default configurations.
The finding of CVE-2021-44832 on 12/28/2021, which is a medium vulnerability, is investigated by our security team as well, and not considered to be as critical. It requires attacker to be able to modify logging configuration, which means attacker can modify the filesystem and/or can already execute arbitrary code which is more of a general security breach rather than something log4j specific.
Note that Hazelcast IMDG and IMDG Enterprise itself is not affected.
However, given version distributions are considered to be vulnerable since related ZIP and TGZ distributions contain a vulnerable Hazelcast Management Center version.
The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths. Typical impact: varies by context: data corruption, logic bypass, or denial of service.
GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q has a CVSS score of 10.0 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (4.5.3, 5.0.2, 4.1.8, 4.2.4, 4.0.5); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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CVE-2021-44228 is fixed in log4j 2.15.0.
CVE-2021-45046 is fixed in log4j 2.16.0.
CVE-2021-45105 is fixed in log4j 2.17.0.
CVE-2021-44832 is fixed in log4j 2.17.1.
As of 12/21/2021, Hazelcast team has released a new version of all affected products that upgrades log4j to 2.17.0 as listed below:
Hazelcast Management Center 4.2021.12-1, Hazelcast Management Center 5.0.4.
Hazelcast IMDG and IMDG Enterprise 4.0.5, 4.1.8 and 4.2.4.
Hazelcast Jet 4.5.3.
Hazelcast Platform 5.0.2.
As of 01/06/2022, Hazelcast Management Center 4.2022.01 with the updated log4j 2.17.1 is released. log4j2.17.1 will be included in Management Center 5.1 that is expected to be released in February.
Hazelcast recommends upgrading to the latest versions available.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q? GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q is a critical-severity improper input validation vulnerability in com.hazelcast.jet:hazelcast-jet (maven), affecting versions >= 4.1, < 4.5.3. It is fixed in 4.5.3, 5.0.2, 4.1.8, 4.2.4, 4.0.5. The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths.
- How severe is GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q? GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q has a CVSS score of 10.0 (Critical). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which packages are affected by GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q?
com.hazelcast.jet:hazelcast-jet(maven) (versions >= 4.1, < 4.5.3)com.hazelcast:hazelcast(maven) (versions >= 5.0, < 5.0.2)
- Is there a fix for GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q? Yes. GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q is fixed in 4.5.3, 5.0.2, 4.1.8, 4.2.4, 4.0.5. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix GHSA-V57X-GXFJ-484Q?
- Upgrade
com.hazelcast.jet:hazelcast-jetto 4.5.3 or later - Upgrade
com.hazelcast:hazelcastto 5.0.2 or later - Upgrade
com.hazelcast:hazelcastto 4.1.8 or later - Upgrade
com.hazelcast:hazelcastto 4.2.4 or later - Upgrade
com.hazelcast:hazelcastto 4.0.5 or later
- Upgrade