Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2026-41603: Apache Thrift improper certificate validation in Java TSSLTransportFactory

CVE-2026-41603 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.4 · Published 2026-04-28

Technologies: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, Apache Thrift, Red Hat AI Inference Server, Red Hat Multicluster Global Hub. Vendors: Red Hat, Apache.

Executive brief

Apache Thrift, a framework used for cross-language software development and communication, contains a security flaw in how it handles encrypted connections. The software fails to verify that a server's security certificate matches its actual address, which could allow an attacker to impersonate a legitimate server. If exploited, this could lead to the interception or alteration of sensitive business data and unauthorized access to communications.

Technical details

A vulnerability exists in Apache Thrift's Java TSSLTransportFactory where it fails to perform proper hostname verification during the TLS handshake. This 'Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch' (CWE-297) allows a remote attacker to perform a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack by presenting a valid certificate for an arbitrary domain, which the client will incorrectly accept as valid for the target host. An attacker can exploit this to intercept, decrypt, or modify sensitive communications between Thrift clients and servers. The issue is fixed in Apache Thrift version 0.23.0. Red Hat has also issued several advisories for downstream products including OpenShift and Multicluster Global Hub.

Affected products

  • Apache Thrift before 0.23.0
  • Red Hat Multicluster Global Hub 1.3.4, 1.4.5, 1.5.4, 1.6.2
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.15
  • Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing platform (Tempo) 3.9.3
  • Red Hat AI Inference Server 3
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
  • Red Hat OpenShift GitOps 1

Timeline

  • 2026-04-28: disclosed: Initial disclosure via Apache and Openwall mailing lists
  • 2026-04-28: advisory: NVD published CVE-2026-41603
  • 2026-04-28: patched: Apache Thrift 0.23.0 released
  • 2026-05-07: patched: Red Hat released security updates for OpenShift distributed tracing (RHSA-2026:14885)

References

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