Vulnerability

CVE-2020-9488

Low· 3.7CVSS3.7EPSS8%

.rules3/5

Improper validation of certificate with host mismatch in Apache Log4j SMTP appender

Improper validation of certificate with host mismatch in Apache Log4j SMTP appender prior to version 2.13.2. This could allow an SMTPS connection to be intercepted by a man-in-the-middle attack which could leak any log messages sent through that appender.

Threat signal

38/100

Guarded

Severity

low

CVSS

3.7

EPSS

Active

CVSS

v3.1via NVDOpen in FIRST calculator →

3.7/ 10LOWCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Attack VectorNetworkExploitable remotely over the internet — no local access needed.
Attack ComplexityHighRequires conditions outside attacker's control (race, brute-force, configuration
Privileges RequiredNoneUnauthenticated — no credentials needed.
User InteractionNoneFully automated — no victim action needed.
ScopeUnchangedImpact contained to the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality ImpactLowSome data disclosure; attacker doesn't fully control what.
Integrity ImpactNoneNo integrity impact.
Availability ImpactNoneNo availability impact.

EPSS

Exploit prediction · 30-day horizonFIRST.org →

8.22%

probability of exploitation in next 30 days

p95

higher than 95% of all CVEs

11-day trend↑ 0.1pp

Mid-pack — moderate exploitation likelihood.

Vendor VEX

No VEX statements published for CVE-2020-9488. Vendors publish VEX (Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange) to assert per-product whether a CVE is actually exploitable in their distribution.

SSVCDefer

No exploitation, limited impact or prevalence

exploitation: none
automatable: no
impact: partial
mission: support

Lifecycle

2020-06-05Published
2026-05-29Last modified2 sources

CVE-2020-9488

CVSS

EPSS

Vendor VEX

Lifecycle

References

CVE-2020-9488

CVSS

EPSS

Vendor VEX

Lifecycle

References