Apache Camel: Camel-Neo4j: JSON property names from the CamelNeo4jMatchProperties header are interpolated into the Cypher WHERE clause without validation, allowing Cypher injection (incomplete remediation of CVE-2025-66169)

Summary

CVE	CVE-2026-46591
State	PUBLISHED
Assigner	apache
Source Priority	CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published	2026-07-06 09:16:37 UTC
Updated	2026-07-08 15:05:01 UTC
Description	Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Data Query Logic vulnerability in Apache Camel Neo4J component. The camel-neo4j producer builds the Cypher WHERE clause for its match/retrieve and delete operations from the CamelNeo4jMatchProperties map. CVE-2025-66169 addressed Cypher injection through the property values by binding them as query parameters ($paramN), but the property names (the JSON keys of that map) were still concatenated into the query string verbatim in Neo4jProducer.retrieveNodes() and deleteNode(). A property name containing Cypher syntax therefore alters the structure of the executed query. Where a route maps untrusted input into the CamelNeo4jMatchProperties map - for example by passing a request body as the match map, or from a consumer that does not filter inbound Camel* headers - an attacker who controls the JSON key names can inject arbitrary Cypher and read, modify or delete any node or relationship in the Neo4j database. The CamelNeo4jMatchProperties header is itself Camel-prefixed and is filtered by the HTTP header-filter strategy, so a plain HTTP client cannot set it directly; the issue is reachable through routes that deliberately or inadvertently carry untrusted data into that header. This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.10.0 before 4.14.8, from 4.15.0 before 4.18.3, from 4.19.0 before 4.21.0. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.21.0, which fixes the issue. If users are on the 4.14.x LTS releases stream, then they are suggested to upgrade to 4.14.8. If users are on the 4.18.x releases stream, then they are suggested to upgrade to 4.18.3. For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, do not populate the CamelNeo4jMatchProperties map from untrusted input: validate or allow-list the property names (for example against ^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]$) before the Neo4j producer, and ensure that any consumer feeding such a route filters inbound Camel / camel* headers so the match header cannot be supplied by an external sender.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 8.2 HIGH from ADP

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

EPSS: 0.002220000 probability, percentile 0.127260000 (date 2026-07-08)

Problem Types: CWE-943 | CWE-943 CWE-943 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Data Query Logic

Version	Source	Type	Score	Severity	Vector
3.1	ADP	DECLARED	8.2	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N`
3.1	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0	Secondary	8.2	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N`

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

High

Availability

None

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

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

Type	Vendor	Product	Version	Update	Edition	Language
Application	Apache	Camel	All	All	All	All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

Source	Vendor	Product	Version	Platforms
CNA	Apache Software Foundation	Apache Camel	affected 4.10.0 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

Reference	Source	Link	Tags
camel.apache.org/security/CVE-2026-46591.html	[email protected]	camel.apache.org	Vendor 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)

CNA: Andrea Cosentino (en)

There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.