Apache WSS4J: Unauthenticated denial of service via integer overflow in DER parsing of X.509 certificate extensions
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-190 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
An integer overflow in WSS4J's DER bounds check lets an oversized allocation pass validation. An unauthenticated attacker can send a SOAP message carrying an X.509 certificate whose SubjectKeyIdentifier extension declares a length of 0x7FFFFFFF; WSS4J decodes this while resolving the signature's key reference, before the message is authenticated, so an eleven-byte extension triggers a 2 GB allocation. Repeated requests exhaust server memory. Users are recommended to upgrade to versions 4.0.2 or 3.0.6 or 2.4.4, which fix this issue.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache | Apache WSS4J | 4.0.0 to before 4.0.2; 3.0.0 to before 3.0.6; before 2.4.4 | 4.0.2, 3.0.6, 2.4.4 | Patch available | CNA |
- Apache WSS4J VendorApache Affected 4.0.0 to before 4.0.2; 3.0.0 to before 3.0.6; before 2.4.4 Fixed in 4.0.2, 3.0.6, 2.4.4 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Apache WSS4J (Apache Software Foundation) Fixed in 4.0.2, 3.0.6, 2.4.4
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
Apache WSS4J 2.4.4, 3.0.6, 4.0.2
7 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 5 MEDIUM, 2 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-60291 Apache WSS4J: SAML Sender-Vouches Authentication BypassPriority MEDIUM 50
- TI-2026-60412 Apache WSS4J: WSS4J EncryptedHeader child confusion causing wrong protected-header selectionPriority MEDIUM 47
- TI-2026-59946 Apache WSS4J: Streaming WS-SecurityPolicy validation may skip element-protection checks.Priority MEDIUM 47
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform Expansion Pack | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-95616
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-9gjf-54jg-6353
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More Apache Wss4j vulnerabilities
- TI-2020-10913 Velocity Sandbox Bypass CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-60291 Apache WSS4J: SAML Sender-Vouches Authentication Bypass CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-60412 Apache WSS4J: WSS4J EncryptedHeader child confusion causing wrong protected-header selection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2026-59946 Apache WSS4J: Streaming WS-SecurityPolicy validation may skip element-protection checks. CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2015-00198 Apache WSS4J before 1.6.17 and 2.0.x before 2.0.2 improperly leaks information about… CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-62217 Apache WSS4J: WS-SecurityPolicy signature checks skipped in the streaming code after an STR-Transform reference CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-95616 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-95616 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-9gjf-54jg-6353 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-95616 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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