CVE-2026-91865

Apache Neethi: Crafted policy references cause exponential expansion during normalization leading to denial of service

7.5 High

A small WS-Policy document using repeated policy references can force Neethi to re-expand the same references exponentially during normalization, consuming huge amounts of CPU and memory (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector: Network
Complexity: Low
Privileges needed: None
User interaction: None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Exploit likelihood

0.74%Up 0.2 points since Sep 22, 2026

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 7.5

Apache Neethi: Crafted policy references cause exponential expansion during normalization leading to denial of service

Record: CVE-2026-91865
CVSS 3.1: 7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness: CWE-770
Updated: 2026-11-02

EUVDEUVD-2026-83887 7.5

Record: EUVD-2026-83887
CVSS 3.1: 7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-6vm6-6w33-f874 7.5

A small WS-Policy document using repeated policy references can force Neethi to re-expand the...

Record: GHSA-6vm6-6w33-f874
CVSS 3.1: 7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness: CWE-770
Updated: 2026-11-02

NVD 7.5

Record: CVE-2026-91865
CVSS 3.1: 7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness: CWE-770
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSV 7.5

Apache Neethi: Crafted policy references cause exponential expansion during normalization leading to denial of service

Record: CVE-2026-91865
CVSS 3.1: 7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVRHLW-2026-5e3f8ccb11a37ba5 7.5

Lightwell Security Advisory: neethi 3.2.2.rhlw-00028

Red Hat Lightwell has released org.apache.neethi:neethi 3.2.2.rhlw-00028 with backported fixes for CVE-2026-91863, CVE-2026-91865, CVE-2026-91866, and CVE-2026-91867.

CVE-2026-91863: Apache Neethi: Uncontrolled recursion while parsing crafted WS-Policy documents allows denial of service

CVE-2026-91865: Apache Neethi: Crafted policy references cause exponential expansion during normalization leading to denial of service

CVE-2026-91866: Apache Neethi: Crafted policies cause unbounded work during intersection leading to denial of service

CVE-2026-91867: Apache Neethi: Remote policy fetch lacks a total timeout, allowing a slow server to hang the request indefinitely

This patched artifact is a drop-in replacement for org.apache.neethi:neethi 3.2.2 from Maven Central.

Record: RHLW-2026-5e3f8ccb11a37ba5
CVSS 3.1: 7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
Package	Affected	Fixed
`org.apache.neethi:neethi` Red Hat Lightwell:Maven From an advisory covering 4 CVEs	before 3.2.2.rhlw-00028, plus listed versions 2.02.0.12.0.22.0.32.0.4 Show 10 moreShow less 2.0.53.0.03.0.13.0.23.0.33.1.03.1.13.2.03.2.13.2.2	3.2.2.rhlw-00028

History

History
Recorded	Changed	Sources
Nov 6, 2026	affected, facts
Nov 2, 2026	first indexed	CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2026-91865 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Apache Neethi, published September 21, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.74%, the 54th percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

Show 9 moreShow less