CVE-2026-84501

medium

Description

An unauthenticated attacker can inject arbitrary fake log lines into Apache ZooKeeper's operational log by sending a crafted add_auth("ensemble", ...) request containing newline characters (\n). When the ensemble name doesn't match, EnsembleAuthenticationProvider.handleAuthentication() logs the raw, unsanitized name via LOG.warn(). Because SLF4J's {} placeholder preserves embedded newlines, the attacker can forge complete log entries — with arbitrary timestamps, log levels, class names, and messages — that are visually indistinguishable from genuine ZooKeeper log output. This issue affects Apache ZooKeeper: from 3.9.0 through 3.9.5, from 3.8.0 through 3.8.6. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.8.7 or 3.9.6, which fixes the issue.

References

https://lists.apache.org/thread/ohby1g6zjt72p0w79rhbr41nczzvr33y

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/09/15/7

Details

Source: Mitre, NVD

Published: 2026-09-16

Updated: 2026-09-16

Risk Information

CVSS v2

Base Score: 5

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

Severity: Medium

CVSS v3

Base Score: 5.3

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

Severity: Medium

EPSS

EPSS: 0.00225