Apache CXF: Unbounded DEFLATE Decompression in CXF JOSE/JWE and SAML Processing (Decompression Bomb)
CompressionUtils.inflate() decompressed attacker-controlled DEFLATE data with no output-size cap. A small (~KB) crafted payload could expand to gigabytes on the heap. Reachable via JWE decryption when zip=DEF (e.g. JoseSessionTokenProvider with RSA-OAEP key wrap) and via SAML redirect/POST binding token inflation — in both cases decompression happens before/independent of trust validation. Fix: Added a configurable maximum inflated-size cap (default 10 MiB, org.apache.cxf.compression-max-inflated-size system property) to CompressionUtils.inflate(); aborts with DataFormatException once exceeded. Users are recommended to upgrade to versions 4.2.4 or 4.1.9 or 3.6.13, which fix this issue.
CVE-2026-78384
Primary source · Revision 1
Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.
Security context
Source reference: cve:CVE-2026-78384
Apache CXF
Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/0/product
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- Not stated in this record
- Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
Structured affected-version data
Original package identities and version rules from this source.
[
{
"vendor": "Apache Software Foundation",
"product": "Apache CXF",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "4.2.0",
"lessThan": "4.2.4",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "4.0.0",
"lessThan": "4.1.9",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "0",
"lessThan": "3.6.13",
"versionType": "semver"
}
],
"packageURL": "pkg:maven/org.apache.cxf/cxf-core",
"packageName": "org.apache.cxf:cxf-core",
"collectionURL": "https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2",
"defaultStatus": "unaffected"
}
]- Related CVEs
- CVE-2026-78384
Source reference:
/cveMetadata/cveId
Publisher severity
No explicit severity was provided.
- Event
- #29764 · Revision 1
- Added to Heist Feed
- Publisher date