CVE-2023-6481
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedA serialization vulnerability in logback receiver component part of logback version 1.4.13, 1.3.13 and 1.2.12 allows an attacker to mount a Denial-Of-Service attack by sending poisoned data.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceA serialization vulnerability exists in the logback receiver component for versions 1.4.13, 1.3.12, and 1.2.12. Attackers can exploit this by sending malicious serialized data to the receiver, causing a Denial-of-Service condition.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 1.2.12= 1.3.13= 1.4.13CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify logback versionLocate the logback-core.jar or logback-classic.jar file in your application's dependencies and read its version from the filename or manifest. In Maven projects, run 'mvn dependency:tree | grep logback' or check your build file for the declared logback version.Affected if The installed version is 1.2.12, 1.3.13, or 1.4.13 exactly.
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Confirm receiver component is in useSearch your configuration files (logback.xml, logback-spring.xml, or programmatic configuration) for 'receiver' elements or the class 'ch.qos.logback.core.net.server.ServerSocketReceiver', 'ch.qos.logback.core.net.SocketServer', or similar server socket receiver configurations.Affected if A receiver component is configured and active, meaning the application is listening for remote logging events.
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Verify network exposureCheck application startup logs for messages indicating the receiver has bound to a network port. Also review your firewall rules and application network bindings to determine if the receiver port is accessible from untrusted networks.Affected if The receiver is bound to a network interface accessible from outside trusted networks, exposing it to remote attackers.
You are affected if you are running logback version 1.2.12, 1.3.13, or 1.4.13 AND the receiver component is enabled and network-accessible.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade logback to the latest patched versions (1.4.14, 1.3.14, and 1.2.13 or later). If immediate upgrading is not feasible, disable the logback receiver component if not required.
Logback 1.4.14+ / 1.3.14+ / 1.2.13+ (latest stable release recommended)
- Identify your current Logback version by checking your Maven/Gradle dependency declarations
- For Maven, locate logback-classic and/or logback-core in pom.xml; for Gradle, check build.gradle or build.gradle.kts
- Upgrade the Logback dependency to a fixed version: update logback-classic and logback-core to version 1.4.14 or later (if using 1.4.x line), 1.3.14 or later (if using 1.3.x line), or 1.2.13 or later (if using 1.2.x line)
- Run mvn clean install or gradle build to verify the upgrade resolves the dependency without conflicts
- If you use the logback receiver component specifically, verify that serialization handling is now safe in the updated version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-6481 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-6481 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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