CVE-2026-42403: Apache Neethi does not properly detect circular references in policy definitions.

CVE-2026-42403 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.5 · Published 2026-05-01

Apache Neethi does not properly detect circular references in policy definitions. When a WS-Policy document contains circular policy references (where Policy A references Policy B which references Policy A), the policy normalization process can enter an infinite loop or cause excessive recursion, leading to a stack overflow or application hang. An attacker can craft malicious policy documents with circular references to cause a Denial of Service condition

Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.2, which fixes this issue.

Technologies: Apache Neethi, org.apache.neethi:neethi (Maven). Vendors: Apache, Maven.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-42403 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-42403 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-42403?
High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 1 May 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
org.apache.neethi:neethi (Maven) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=3.2.2.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-42403?
Yes. org.apache.neethi:neethi (Maven): upgrade to 3.2.2 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-42403?
Check whether you run Apache Neethi or org.apache.neethi:neethi (Maven) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • org.apache.neethi:neethi (Maven): upgrade to 3.2.2 or later
    # set org.apache.neethi:neethi to 3.2.2 in your pom.xml or build.gradle

Affected products

  • Apache Neethi
  • org.apache.neethi:neethi (Maven) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=3.2.2

Identifiers

  • CVE-2026-42403
  • GHSA-2hfh-9h53-qc24

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