CVE-2026-42403
Description
A flaw was found in Apache Neethi. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious WS-Policy documents that contain circular policy references. This can cause the policy normalization process to enter an infinite loop or excessive recursion, leading to a stack overflow or application hang. Consequently, a remote attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) condition.
Statement
This Moderate flaw in Apache Neethi allows a remote attacker to trigger a Denial of Service condition. By crafting malicious WS-Policy documents with circular references, an attacker can cause the policy normalization process to enter an infinite loop or excessive recursion, leading to application instability or a hang. This can disrupt services relying on Apache Neethi for policy processing. In order to exploit this vulnerability, the attack should have enough privileges in the targeted system to include the maliciously crafted policy document or trick the user to consume it.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.5 | N/A | 7.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)
Frequently Asked Questions
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