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Struts ExtrasFramework / library · Apache

CVE-2025-54656

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.0 or later.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
** UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED ** Improper Output Neutralization for Logs vulnerability in Apache Struts. This issue affects Apache Struts Extras: before 2. When using LookupDispatchAction, in some cases, Struts may print untrusted input to the logs without any filtering. Specially-crafted input may lead to log output where part of the message masquerades as a separate log line, confusing consumers of the logs (either human or automated).  As this project is retired, we do not plan to release a version that fixes this issue. Users are recommended to find an alternative or restrict access to the instance to trusted users. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer.

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 confidence

Log injection vulnerability in Apache Struts Extras LookupDispatchAction where untrusted user input is written to logs without sanitization. Attackers can craft input containing newline characters to masquerade as separate log entries, confusing log analysis tools and potentially hiding malicious activity in log monitoring systems.

MitigationSince Apache Struts Extras is retired with no fix planned, migrate away from LookupDispatchAction to a supported framework, or implement input validation at the application/WAF layer and restrict access to trusted users only.

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
Struts ExtrasFramework / library
Affected:< 2.0

CVSS 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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Apache Struts Extras presence
    Search for struts-extras*.jar files in your application WEB-INF/lib directory, Java classpath, or dependency manifest (pom.xml, build.gradle)
    Affected if The Apache Struts Extras library is found in your application dependencies or deployed files
  2. Determine Apache Struts Extras version
    Inspect the struts-extras JAR file MANIFEST.MF for the Implementation-Version attribute, or check your dependency management tool for the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version is less than 2.0 (i.e., any 1.x version)
  3. Detect LookupDispatchAction usage
    Search codebase for classes extending LookupDispatchAction, or inspect struts-config.xml for type="lookup" attribute in action mappings
    Affected if Your application uses LookupDispatchAction in any Struts configuration
  4. Verify user input reaches logging
    Review application code where LookupDispatchAction subclasses process user requests, and inspect application log files for raw user-submitted parameter values
    Affected if User-supplied request parameters are written to logs without sanitization (look for newline characters in log entries that could split entries)

You are affected if Apache Struts Extras version less than 2.0 is deployed and your application uses LookupDispatchAction to process untrusted user input that gets logged.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.0 or later
Fixed in 2.0
Interim mitigation

Since Apache Struts Extras is retired with no fix planned, migrate away from LookupDispatchAction to a supported framework, or implement input validation at the application/WAF layer and restrict access to trusted users only.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. 1. Assess current usage: Identify all applications and components using Apache Struts Extras (struts-extras library), particularly any use of LookupDispatchAction.
  2. 2. Plan migration: Since this is a retired, unsupported project with no security fixes forthcoming, develop a migration plan to a supported alternative.
  3. 3. Migrate away: Replace LookupDispatchAction with a supported Struts action type (such as ActionSupport or a custom Action) that properly handles input validation and logging.
  4. 4. Implement input validation: Ensure all user inputs are validated before logging to prevent log injection attacks.
  5. 5. Restrict access: As an interim measure while planning migration, restrict access to the affected instance to trusted users only to reduce exposure.
Caveat Migration away from retired Struts Extras is required; no supported version exists

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Struts Extras Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
29.0 hours of engineering $5,220
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-54656 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data