CVE-2026-84181 Apache Camel
| Affected software | Apache Camel |
|---|---|
| Severity | 5.9 Medium CVSS 3.1 |
| Weakness | Improper authentication (CWE-287) |
| Published | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Updated | 3 Nov 2026 |
Published 25 days ago. NVD often adds the list of affected products days or weeks after a CVE is published, and the other sources we check lag too. The scope and status here may change.
Description
Improper Authentication vulnerability in Apache Camel Shiro component. This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.0.0 before 4.18.5, from 4.19.0 before 4.22.1. The Shiro security processor skipped credential verification when the subject already bound to the current thread carried the same principal as the incoming exchange. Because the thread that carries a Camel exchange is drawn from a pool and reused across exchanges, a subject left bound by an earlier authenticated exchange could satisfy the check for a later one that presented no valid credentials of its own. The password on the incoming exchange was, in that case, never verified. The condition depends on thread reuse and on the principal matching, which is why it is not reached on every request, but it requires nothing of the attacker beyond sending a request naming a principal that is in active use. Upgrade to Apache Camel 4.23.0, which fixes the issue. Users on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.18.5. Users on the 4.22.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.22.1. The processor now verifies the presented credentials on every exchange rather than accepting a subject already bound to the thread. Setting alwaysReauthenticate=false restores the previous behaviour for deployments that depend on it. For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, ensure the Shiro subject is cleared from the thread at the end of every exchange so that no subject can be inherited by a later one.
Exploitation status
No public exploit
No exploit has been reported in the sources we check. The 1 repository below are public GitHub repositories with fewer than 5 stars.
Exploitation status
- CISA KEV not listed
- VulnCheck KEV not listed
- CISA Vulnrichment exploitation: none
- Indexed PoC 1 indexed, none at 5+ stars
- EPSS 0.51% chance in 30 days
| Index | Artifact | Stars | First seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub PoC | Reproducer for CVE-2026-84181 — Apache Camel camel-shiro thread-bound-subject authentication bypass (CWE-287); Spring Boot + Quarkus, affected vs fixed | 2026-10-19 |
Waratek protection
Within Waratek scope. In the sources we check, nobody has published exploit code for this CVE or reported it being exploited.
A public code fix exists: apache/camel #25822.
- Protection none
- Action unverified
- Review automated Upstream data
- Record active
| Decided by | Medium or Low severity, no CISA or VulnCheck KEV listing, no PoC clearing the evidence bar, no CISA verdict, no Oracle advisory |
|---|---|
| Finding | This CVE is MEDIUM severity, is not listed in CISA KEV or VulnCheck KEV, has no public exploit or PoC in any indexed source, carries no CISA Vulnrichment finding of a demonstrated exploit, and is not part of an Oracle Critical Patch Update. None of the signals that would put it in front of an engineer is present, and the volume of CVEs below that bar is too great to take one at a time, so no rule is written for it. This is a decision about what we act on, not a finding that the CVE is harmless — a patch may well be derivable, and a low-severity defect can still be one link in a longer chain. |
| Candidate fix | https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25822 : a pull request: the change under review |
Affected software and releases
Products and versions
1 product, 2 version entries| Source | Vendor | Product | Scheme | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nvd | apache | camel | generic | ≥ 4.0.0 and < 4.18.5 · ≥ 4.19.0 and < 4.22.1 |
References
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25822 | pr |
| https://camel.apache.org/security/CVE-2026-84181.html | Mitigation, Patch, Vendor Advisory |
| https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25944 | Issue Tracking, Patch |
| https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25946 | Issue Tracking, Patch |
| https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CAMEL-24439 | Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory |
Timeline
Timeline
| Published | 2026-10-19 | By the CVE Program. |
|---|---|---|
| NVD record modified | 2026-11-03 | NVD's own last-modified date for this record. |