CVE-2026-78384

Apache CXF: Unbounded DEFLATE Decompression in CXF JOSE/JWE and SAML Processing (Decompression Bomb)

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.

Scores

Weaknesses (CWE)

• CWE-409

European references

• ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-95696
• GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-78384

CERT-FR advisories

• CERTFR-2026-AVI-1385 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware · cert.ssi.gouv.fr

Affected configurations (NVD CPE)

• cpe:2.3:a:apache:cxf:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* < 3.6.13
• cpe:2.3:a:apache:cxf:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* ≥ 4.0.0 < 4.1.9
• cpe:2.3:a:apache:cxf:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* ≥ 4.2.0 < 4.2.4

Affected products

References

• https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/xoh63rlxn0m9koft5j4jxrfd0hf81v3q
• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/10/09/6

Sources