CVE-2026-66142: Apache Neethi denial of service via uncontrolled recursion in policy parsing

CVE-2026-66142 · Severity: info · CVSS 7.5 · Published 2026-07-24

Apache Neethi, a library used for managing Web Services policies, is vulnerable to a flaw that can crash applications. By sending a specially crafted policy with deeply nested structures or missing identifiers, an attacker can cause the system to run out of memory. This results in a denial-of-service, making the affected service unavailable to legitimate users.

Technologies: Apache Software Foundation Neethi. Vendors: Apache Software Foundation.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-66142 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-66142 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-66142?
Informational severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 24 July 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
Apache Software Foundation Neethi versions prior to 3.2.3.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-66142?
A patch was published on 2026-07-24: Version 3.2.3 released to address the issue Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-66142 attacked?
It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-66142?
Check whether you run Apache Software Foundation Neethi 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.

Technical details

A stack exhaustion or uncontrolled recursion vulnerability exists in Apache Neethi's policy parsing logic. When the library processes a WS-Policy that is either deeply nested or lacks mandatory Policy IDs, it enters a recursive loop that consumes excessive system memory. This is a remote, unauthenticated attack vector that allows an attacker to trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by providing a malicious policy file to any application utilizing the Neethi library for parsing. The issue is resolved in version 3.2.3.

Affected products

  • Apache Software Foundation Neethi versions prior to 3.2.3

Timeline

  • 2026-07-24: advisory: NVD publication date
  • 2026-07-24: patched: Version 3.2.3 released to address the issue

References

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