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No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2026-97791

Apache CXF: STSTokenValidator can accept untrusted SAML assertions because it shares validation state between requests

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2026-10-09
  • Fixed in4.2.4 · 4.1.9 · 3.6.13
  • WeaknessCWE-362

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

In Apache CXF, STSTokenValidator checks whether a SAML assertion is signed by a trusted certificate before deciding to send it to the STS. That result was stored in one object shared by all requests, so one request could read another's result. A remote, unauthenticated attacker could send a forged assertion signed with an untrusted certificate while legitimate requests were being processed, and it could be accepted as trusted without ever reaching the STS. Only services that use STSTokenValidator to validate SAML tokens without alwaysValidateToSts set are affected.  Users are recommended to upgrade to versions 4.2.4 or 4.1.9 or 3.6.13, which fix this issue.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2026-10-0911:17CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2026-97791?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2026-97791?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Apache cxf
BranchAffectedFixed in
4.2≥ 4.2.0, < 4.2.44.2.4
4.x≥ 4.0.0, < 4.1.94.1.9
3.6< 3.6.133.6.13

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2026-97791 Red Hat Product Security9 known affected

    org.apache.cxf/cxf-rt-ws-security: Apache CXF: Authentication bypass via shared token validation state

    cxf-rt-ws-security as a component of Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 for Quarkus 3 · cxf-rt-ws-security as a component of Red Hat build of Apache Camel for Spring Boot 4 · cxf-rt-ws-security as a component of Red Hat Fuse 7 · +6 more

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. Update Apache cxf to 4.2.4 · 4.1.9 · 3.6.13
  2. Workaround from the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2026-97791 · 9 productsAs a workaround, configure STSTokenValidator with alwaysValidateToSts enabled so that every incoming SAML token is always sent to the Security Token Service (STS) for validation rather than being accepted based on the local certificate-trust check; services configured this way are not exposed to th…
  3. No fix available, says the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2026-97791 · 6 productsAffected
  4. No fix planned, says the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2026-97791 · 3 productsWill not fix

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published
2026-10-09
Last Modified
2026-10-20
NVD status
Analyzed

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-97791?

In Apache CXF, STSTokenValidator checks whether a SAML assertion is signed by a trusted certificate before deciding to send it to the STS. That result was stored in one object shared by all requests, so one request could read another's result. A remote, unauthenticated attacker could send a forged assertion signed with an untrusted certificate while legitimate requests were being processed, and it could be accepted as trusted without ever reaching the STS. Only services that use STSTokenValidator to validate SAML tokens without alwaysValidateToSts set are affected.  Users are recommended to upgrade to versions 4.2.4 or 4.1.9 or 3.6.13, which fix this issue.

Is CVE-2026-97791 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2026-97791 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 0.3% on 2026-10-22, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-97791?

CVE-2026-97791 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

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