Path traversal in Apache Camel FTP consumer escapes polled directory
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
Apache Camel from 4.0.0 before 4.18.5 and from 4.19.0 before 4.22.1 is affected through its FTP, FTPS and SFTP remote file consumers. The consumers build the path of each polled file from the file name in the server's directory listing without checking that it stays inside the polled directory (CWE-22). A malicious or compromised server, or an on-path attacker who rewrites directory listings, can make Camel read, delete or rename files outside that directory using the endpoint's credentials.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-03
Description from the CNA
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in Apache Camel FTP component. This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.0.0 before 4.18.5, from 4.19.0 before 4.22.1. The Camel remote-file consumers poll a directory on a remote server and build the absolute remote path of each file by concatenating the configured directory with the file name reported in the server's directory listing. That concatenation (FtpUtils.absoluteFilePath and GenericFileConsumer) applied no lexical normalization and no check that the result stayed inside the directory being polled, and the resulting path became the operand for every subsequent remote operation on the file: retrieval (FtpOperations.retrieveFile / SftpOperations, reached from GenericFileConsumer where the retrieve name is taken verbatim from GenericFile.getAbsoluteFilePath), deletion when delete=true (GenericFileDeleteProcessStrategy), and renaming when move, preMove, moveFailed or readLock=rename is configured (GenericFileProcessStrategySupport and GenericFileRenameExclusiveReadLockStrategy). Neither isValidFile nor isMatched performed any containment check. A listing entry that is not a single path segment therefore resolved to a path outside the configured polling directory, causing Camel to read, delete or rename files outside it using the endpoint's own credentials. A listing name is not route-controlled data. It is supplied by the remote server, and the FTP control channel carries no integrity protection at all, so an on-path attacker can rewrite a LIST response without holding any credentials; a compromised, malicious or multi-tenant server, or a server backed by a virtual filesystem, can emit such a name directly. Retrieval is reachable in a default consumer configuration, since the remote consumers download every listed file; deletion and renaming additionally require one of the disposition options above, all of which are common. Escape from the directory Camel was configured to poll is unconditional, while escape from the server's own account boundary additionally depends on whether that server confines the account. The jailStartingDirectory option, which is documented as restricting Camel to the starting directory and is enabled by default, governed producer writes and, since the localWorkDirectory containment work, consumer downloads to the local work directory - but it did not constrain this remote operand, so its name and description claimed a boundary that was not enforced here. The same entry point had already been recognised on the local side: the localWorkDirectory download path was constrained so that a remote file name containing parent-directory segments could not resolve outside the local work directory. The remote operand was the remaining half of that surface. This artifact provides the ftp, ftps and sftp schemes, all of which are affected. The reporter demonstrated the issue end to end against an ftp endpoint, driving a Camel route with a malicious server whose LIST response named a file outside the polled directory. Upgrade to Apache Camel 4.23.0, which fixes the issue. Users on the 4.22.x releases stream should upgrade to 4.22.1. Users on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.18.5. The 4.14.x stream reached end of life and does not receive this fix; users on it should move to a supported releases stream.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
Upgrade Apache Camel to 4.18.5, 4.22.1 or 4.23.0, depending on the release line in use. Red Hat lists no available plan for Red Hat Fuse 7, Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 for Quarkus 3 and Red Hat build of Apache Camel for Spring Boot 4.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-03
- Fix · CNA Apache Camel (Apache Software Foundation) Fixed in 4.18.5, 4.22.1, 4.23.0
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
Apache Camel 4.18.5, 4.22.1
39 records Highest priority Priority HIGH 6 HIGH, 9 MEDIUM, 24 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-76322 Unsafe deserialization in Apache Camel camel-hazelcastPriority HIGH 82
- TI-2026-76339 Path traversal in Apache Camel azure-files componentPriority HIGH 74
- TI-2026-76325 Unfiltered Java deserialization in Apache Camel Spring Redis componentPriority HIGH 73
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Fuse 7 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 for Quarkus 3 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel for Spring Boot 4 | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-10-19 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-79983
- 2026-10-19 Alias added: GHSA-vqcr-73j4-7wxf
- 2026-10-19 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-19 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-20 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-20 Priority changed: LOW → HIGH
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-25 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
- 2026-11-03 CVSS score added · NVD
References
Patch 6
- Apache Camel Security Advisory - CVE-2026-79983
- CAMEL-24487
- Fix on main, for 4.23.0 (commit 177fb1fdff90632ebfd27772a625b720c1cab3e7)
- Backport to camel-4.22.x, for 4.22.1 (commit b31b1754d26352ea823354c8660074aaba257c45)
- Backport to camel-4.18.x, for 4.18.5 (commit c1165e4e663c3c3edc7bd30451ecc213fcf68cfd)
- Upgrade-guide documentation sync to main (commit a7d7d3ad2e7f940ece35803a0929aa8215d91dfc)
Advisory 1
More Apache Camel vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-76322 Unsafe deserialization in Apache Camel camel-hazelcast CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2026-18973 Apache Camel: Camel-Keycloak: Cross-Realm Token Acceptance Bypass in KeycloakSecurityPolicy CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2026-76339 Path traversal in Apache Camel azure-files component CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2025-20435 Apache Camel: Camel Message Header Injection via Improper Filtering CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.6
- TI-2026-34899 Apache Camel: Camel-CXF Message Header Injection via Missing Inbound Filtering CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-25849 Mass assignment in Apache Camel CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
Sources
- CVE-2026-79983 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-79983 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-vqcr-73j4-7wxf · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-79983 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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