Is CVE-2026-97468 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-97468 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-97468?

Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.1, published 9 October 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

Apache CXF versions prior to 4.2.4, 4.1.9, or 3.6.13.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-97468?

Yes: fixed in Apache CXF 4.2.4, 4.1.9, 3.6.13. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-97468 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-97468?

Check whether you run Apache CXF 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.

CVE-2026-97468: Apache CXF hash collision bypass in STS token validation

CVE-2026-97468 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.1 · Published 2026-10-09

Apache CXF is a web services framework that handles authentication and token validation for enterprise systems. The framework cached validated security tokens using a weak hash function, allowing attackers to craft fraudulent tokens with matching hashes to bypass authentication and impersonate other users without password validation. An attacker could obtain forged STS-signed tokens under a victim's identity, enabling account takeover and unauthorized access to protected services.

Technologies: Apache CXF. Vendors: Apache.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-97468 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-97468 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-97468?: Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.1, published 9 October 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: Apache CXF versions prior to 4.2.4, 4.1.9, or 3.6.13.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-97468?: Yes: fixed in Apache CXF 4.2.4, 4.1.9, 3.6.13. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-97468 attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-97468?: Check whether you run Apache CXF 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

Fixed in: Apache CXF 4.2.4, 4.1.9, 3.6.13

Technical details

The STSTokenValidator and Security Token Service (STS) components use Java's non-cryptographic Arrays.hashCode() to cache validated security tokens, then treat cache hits as proof of prior validation. An attacker can craft a UsernameToken or SAML Assertion with a hash collision against a cached entry, bypassing password validation, signature trust verification, and STS validation calls. The weak 32-bit hash function makes collision attacks feasible, allowing authentication as arbitrary users.

Affected products

Apache CXF versions prior to 4.2.4, 4.1.9, or 3.6.13

Timeline

2026-10-09: disclosed

References

This page as Markdown. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link back.