CVE-2026-85250 Apache Camel
| Affected software | Apache Camel |
|---|---|
| Severity | 7.5 High CVSS 3.1 |
| Weakness | XML external entity (XXE) (CWE-611) |
| Published | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Updated | 3 Nov 2026 |
Published 26 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 Restriction of XML External Entity Reference vulnerability in Apache Camel XPath component. This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.0.0 before 4.18.5, from 4.19.0 before 4.22.1. With documentType set to InputSource, XPathBuilder handed the payload straight to javax.xml.xpath, which builds a DocumentBuilder of its own using the JDK defaults. The hardening applied to Camel's default document type was therefore bypassed: a DOCTYPE declaration that is refused on the default type was accepted here, and the external entity it declared was resolved and expanded into the evaluated document. An external sender whose XML reaches such an expression could read files readable by the Camel process and cause the process to issue requests to hosts it names. The two document types disagreeing on parser configuration is what made this reachable, since a deployment choosing InputSource for streaming reasons had no indication it was also choosing a weaker parser. 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 InputSource document type now goes through the same hardened parser as the default type, so a DOCTYPE is refused. Note that it also shares that type's documented escape hatch: the same DocumentBuilderFactory system properties that relax the default type relax this one, so a deployment that has set them remains unprotected by design. For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, do not use documentType=InputSource on expressions evaluated over untrusted XML; the default document type already refuses a DOCTYPE.
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 0.70% chance in 30 days
| Index | Artifact | Stars | First seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub PoC | Reproducer for CVE-2026-85250 — Apache Camel camel-xpath XML external entity processing via documentType=InputSource (CWE-611); Spring Boot + Quarkus, affected vs fixed | 2026-10-19 |
Waratek protection
Waratek has a rule that blocks attacks on this vulnerability.
- Protection full XXE
- Action available security rule
- Review automated Inferred
- Record active
| Decided by | A vulnerability class already blocked by an ARMR security rule |
|---|---|
| Finding | Protected by Waratek's ARMR xxe security rule, which blocks this class of attack at the JVM level without a rule written for this CVE specifically. The CVE's weakness is CWE-611: XML External Entity Reference. |
| Candidate fix | https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25683 : a pull request: the change under review |
How to mitigate CVE-2026-85250
Apply the vendor's fix for Apache Camel. Until you can, Waratek RASP blocks exploitation with its XXE rule. It runs inside the Java application, with no code changes.
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/25683 | pr |
| https://camel.apache.org/security/CVE-2026-85250.html | Mitigation, Patch, Vendor Advisory |
| https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25940 | Issue Tracking, Patch |
| https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25942 | Issue Tracking, Patch |
| https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CAMEL-24475 | Issue Tracking, Patch |
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. |