Apache Camel: Camel-NATS: Inbound NATS message headers are mapped into the Exchange without a configured HeaderFilterStrategy, allowing a client that can publish to the subject to inject Camel control headers

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Summary

CVECVE-2026-46457
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerapache
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-07-06 09:16:36 UTC
Updated2026-07-08 03:14:59 UTC
DescriptionImproper Input Validation vulnerability in Apache Camel NATS component. The camel-nats component maps inbound NATS message headers into the Camel Exchange but defaulted its headerFilterStrategy to a bare new DefaultHeaderFilterStrategy() with no inbound rules configured (NatsConfiguration). With no inFilter, inFilterPattern or inFilterStartsWith set, DefaultHeaderFilterStrategy.applyFilterToExternalHeaders returns not filtered for every header name, so NatsConsumer copies every NATS message header - including Camel-internal control headers such as CamelHttpUri, CamelFileName or CamelSqlQuery - unmodified onto the Camel message. A client able to publish to the consumed NATS subject can therefore inject arbitrary Camel control headers that influence the behaviour of downstream producers in the route (for example redirecting an HTTP producer, changing a file name, or overriding a query); the injected headers also persist across internal direct, seda and vm hops. The concrete downstream impact depends on which producers the route uses. NATS message headers require NATS 2.2 or later, and the issue is reachable without credentials when the NATS server is configured without authentication (the NATS server default). This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.0.0 before 4.14.8, from 4.15.0 before 4.18.3, from 4.19.0 before 4.21.0. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.21.0, which fixes the issue. If users are on the 4.14.x LTS releases stream, then they are suggested to upgrade to 4.14.8. If users are on the 4.18.x releases stream, then they are suggested to upgrade to 4.18.3. The fix makes camel-nats default to a dedicated NatsHeaderFilterStrategy that filters the Camel header namespace case-insensitively on inbound mapping, so client-supplied Camel* / camel* headers are no longer copied into the Exchange. For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, strip the Camel control headers from inbound NATS messages before they reach any downstream producer (for example removeHeaders('Camel*') and removeHeaders('camel*') at the start of the route), and enable authentication on the NATS server so that only trusted clients can publish to the consumed subject.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.5 HIGH from ADP

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

EPSS: 0.004230000 probability, percentile 0.340710000 (date 2026-07-08)

Problem Types: CWE-20 | CWE-20 CWE-20 Improper Input Validation

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1ADPDECLARED7.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
3.1134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0Secondary7.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Apache Camel All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache Camel affected 4.0.0 4.14.8 semver Not specified
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache Camel affected 4.15.0 4.18.3 semver Not specified
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache Camel affected 4.19.0 4.21.0 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
camel.apache.org/security/CVE-2026-46457.html [email protected] camel.apache.org Mitigation, Vendor Advisory
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/07/05/10 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: Yu Bao from PayPal (en)

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