PatchTheCVECVE-2026-42402: Apache Neethi is vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack through algorithmic complexity in policy normalizati
CVE-2026-42402 is a high-severity flaw (CVSS 7.5) affecting neethi. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.
Apache Neethi is vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack through algorithmic complexity in policy normalization. Specially crafted WS-Policy documents can trigger an exponential Cartesian cross-product expansion during the normalization process, causing unbounded memory allocation that exhausts the JVM heap. This occurs when the normalization process generates an excessive number of policy alternatives without bounds, leading to runtime memory e
Why this priority
- High severity
- Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action
- On your watchlist
A fixed release or distro patch exists.
Risk facts
| CVSS score | 7.5 (High) |
| Attack vector | Network (remote) |
| Attack complexity | Low |
| Privileges needed | None |
| User interaction | None |
| EPSS exploit chance | 0.7% (top 47%) |
| CISA exploited list | No |
| Weakness | CWE-400 |
| Published | 2026-05-01 |
| Last modified | 2026-10-26 |
Last updated 2026-10-26 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score
Am I affected?
Timeline
- Published CVE record published
- Updated Record last modified
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.
Quick answers
How do I fix CVE-2026-42402?
neethi: upgrade to 3.2.2. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.
Is CVE-2026-42402 being exploited?
CVE-2026-42402 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.
What does CVE-2026-42402 affect?
CVE-2026-42402 affects neethi. Severity is high (CVSS 7.5). Apache Neethi is vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack through algorithmic complexity in policy normalization. Specially crafted WS-Policy documents can trigger an exponential Cartesian cross-product expansion during the normalization pr
How urgent is CVE-2026-42402?
Priority 50/100. High severity; Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action; On your watchlist
Related CVEs
- CVE-2026-42404 MEDIUM 6.5 UPGRADE Apache Neethi does not impose any restrictions on URIs when manually fetching remote policy references through
- CVE-2026-42403 HIGH 7.5 UPGRADE Apache Neethi does not properly detect circular references in policy definitions
- CVE-2026-66143 HIGH 7.5 DOWNGRADE It is possible to bypass the maximum number of normalized policy alternatives that was introduced in Apache Ne
- CVE-2026-66142 HIGH 7.5 UPGRADE Apache Neethi is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion when parsing policies that lack policy Ids or with deepl
- CVE-2026-66144 HIGH 7.5 UPGRADE Although remote policy references are not retrieved during policy normalization, if they are manually retrieve