Description
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.
Metrics
CVSS 3.1 7.5/10
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NWeakness enumeration
Affected software
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Apache Software Foundation | Apache CXF | >= 4.2.0, < 4.2.4; >= 4.0.0, < 4.1.9; < 3.6.13 |
References
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/xoh63rlxn0m9koft5j4jxrfd0hf81v3qIssue Tracking, Vendor Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/10/09/6Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Timeline
- Published
- Oct 9, 2026
- Last modified
- Oct 20, 2026
- NVD status
- Analyzed