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Fencer Vulns
medium 5.3

CVE-2026-49098 json

Apache Camel: Camel-Kafka: The kafka.OVERRIDE_TOPIC (and other kafka.*) Exchange header constants used non-Camel-prefixed names that bypass the upstream HTTP header filter, allowing an HTTP client to redirect Kafka messages to an arbitrary topic

published 2026-07-06 4 mo ago modified 2026-08-28 2 mo ago also GHSA-mm84-qvjh-hcj7 , EUVD-2026-41844

cvss
5.3
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.6%
EPSS 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 49%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Improper Input Validation, Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection') vulnerability in Apache Camel Kafka Component.

The camel-kafka producer can override its configured target topic at runtime from the kafka.OVERRIDE_TOPIC Exchange header: KafkaProducer.evaluateTopic() returns the header value in preference to the topic configured on the endpoint. The control-header constants in KafkaConstants (for example OVERRIDE_TOPIC = kafka.OVERRIDE_TOPIC, OVERRIDE_TIMESTAMP = kafka.OVERRIDE_TIMESTAMP, PARTITION_KEY = kafka.PARTITION_KEY) used plain, non-Camel-prefixed values. camel-kafka's own KafkaHeaderFilterStrategy does filter the kafka.* namespace, but only on the Kafka-to-Exchange serialization boundary (reading Kafka record headers into the Exchange, and writing Exchange headers into a Kafka record); it does not apply to headers that arrive from an upstream consumer in a multi-component route. The upstream HTTP consumer uses HttpHeaderFilterStrategy, which blocks only the Camel / camel namespace, so a kafka.* header passes through unfiltered. As a result, in a route that bridges an HTTP consumer (for example platform-http) into a kafka: producer, any HTTP client could set the kafka.OVERRIDE_TOPIC header and cause the message to be published to an arbitrary Kafka topic instead of the configured one - redirecting it to a sensitive internal topic, or injecting attacker-crafted messages into a topic consumed by a critical downstream service. The related kafka.OVERRIDE_TIMESTAMP and kafka.PARTITION_KEY headers could likewise be injected to backdate messages or target specific partitions. No credentials are required when the bridging consumer is unauthenticated. This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.0.0 before 4.14.8, from 4.15.0 before 4.18.3, from 4.19.0 before 4.21.0.

Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.21.0, which fixes the issue. If users are on the 4.14.x LTS releases stream, then they are suggested to upgrade to 4.14.8. If users are on the 4.18.x releases stream, then they are suggested to upgrade to 4.18.3. After upgrading, routes that set or read Kafka headers via the raw header names must use the CamelKafka* names (for example CamelKafkaOverrideTopic and CamelKafkaTopic) instead of the old kafka.* values. For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, strip the kafka.* headers from any untrusted ingress before the kafka: producer (for example removeHeaders('kafka.*') at the start of the route), and set the target topic from a trusted source.

Patch / fix

  • maven org.apache.camel:camel-kafka 4.14.8, 4.18.3, 4.21.0
  • Apache Software Foundation Apache Camel 4.14.8, 4.18.3, 4.21.0

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-49098 updated cvss 6.5

camel-kafka: Apache Camel Kafka Component: Message redirection and injection via header manipulation

  • Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 for Quarkus 3 camel-kafka Red Hat build of Apache Camel for Spring Boot 4 camel-kafka
    affected: workaround, no fix available “Strip the kafka.* headers from untrusted inbound messages before the Kafka producer (for example removeHeaders('kafka.*') at the start of the route), and set the target topic from a trusted source.”

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
4 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.61% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 49% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CISA ADP 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
CNA 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
GitHub 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
maven org.apache.camel:camel-kafka
>=4.0.0, <4.14.8
>=4.15.0, <4.18.3
>=4.19.0, <4.21.0
4.14.8
4.18.3
4.21.0

Affected products

  • Apache Software Foundation Apache Camel

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
  • CWE-74 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component

References

Sources

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