CVE-2026-49098
Description
A flaw was found in the Apache Camel Kafka Component. A remote attacker can exploit an improper input validation vulnerability by manipulating specific Kafka headers, such as kafka.OVERRIDE_TOPIC, when an HTTP consumer bridges into a Kafka producer. This allows the attacker to redirect messages to arbitrary Kafka topics, potentially injecting malicious content into sensitive internal topics or services. Additionally, attackers can manipulate kafka.OVERRIDE_TIMESTAMP and kafka.PARTITION_KEY headers to backdate messages or target specific partitions, leading to data integrity issues or denial of service. No authentication is required if the bridging consumer is unauthenticated.
Statement
A flaw was found in the Apache Camel Kafka component. The Kafka Exchange header constants use non-Camel-prefixed names (kafka.* format) that bypass the HTTP header filter, allowing an unauthenticated HTTP client to redirect messages to arbitrary Kafka topics, backdate timestamps, or target specific partitions. Red Hat builds of Apache Camel for Spring Boot and Quarkus ship the affected camel-kafka component.
Mitigation
Strip the kafka.* headers from untrusted inbound messages before the Kafka producer (for example removeHeaders('kafka.*') at the start of the route), and set the target topic from a trusted source.
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).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.5 | N/A | 5.3 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | Low | N/A | Low |
| Integrity Impact | Low | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)
An attacker could provide unexpected values and cause a program crash or arbitrary control of resource allocation, leading to excessive consumption of resources such as memory and CPU.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory; Read Files or Directories
An attacker could read confidential data if they are able to control resource references.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Modify Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
An attacker could use malicious input to modify data or possibly alter control flow in unexpected ways, including arbitrary command execution.
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