Security Bulletin
Summary
There is a vulnerability in the Neethi library which affects IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty with the jaxws-2.2, xmlWS-3.0 or xmlWS-4.0 feature enabled.
Vulnerability Details
CVEID: CVE-2026-42402
DESCRIPTION: Apache Neethi is vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack through algorithmic complexity in policy normalization. Specially crafted WS-Policy documents can trigger an exponential Cartesian cross-product expansion during the normalization process, causing unbounded memory allocation that exhausts the JVM heap. This occurs when the normalization process generates an excessive number of policy alternatives without bounds, leading to runtime memory exhaustion.
Users should upgrade to 3.2.2 which limits the maximum number of normalized policy alternatives.
CWE: CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
CVSS Source: security@apache.org
CVSS Base score: 7.5
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)
CVEID: CVE-2026-42403
DESCRIPTION: Apache Neethi does not properly detect circular references in policy definitions. When a WS-Policy document contains circular policy references (where Policy A references Policy B which references Policy A), the policy normalization process can enter an infinite loop or cause excessive recursion, leading to a stack overflow or application hang. An attacker can craft malicious policy documents with circular references to cause a Denial of Service condition
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.2, which fixes this issue.
CWE: CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
CVSS Source: security@apache.org
CVSS Base score: 7.5
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)
CVEID: CVE-2026-42404
DESCRIPTION: Apache Neethi does not impose any restrictions on URIs when manually fetching remote policy references through the PolicyReference API. When an application explicitly calls the API to retrieve a policy from a remote URI, an outbound request is made for arbitrary protocols and internal IP adddresses. From 3.2.2, only http or https URIs are allowed, and link-local/multicast/any-local addresses are forbidden.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.2, which fixes this issue.
CWE: CWE-918: Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
CVSS Source: NVD
CVSS Base score: 7.2
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N)
Affected Products and Versions
| Affected Product(s) | Version(s) |
| IBM WebSphere Application Server - Liberty | 17.0.0.3 - 26.0.0.6 |
Remediation/Fixes
IBM strongly recommends addressing the vulnerability now by applying a currently available interim fix or fix pack that contains the fix for APAR PH71687. To determine if a feature is enabled for IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty, refer to How to determine if Liberty is using a specific feature.
For IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty 17.0.0.3 - 26.0.0.6 using the jaxws-2.2, xmlWS-3.0 or xmlWS-4.0 feature(s):
· Upgrade to minimal fix pack levels as required by the interim fix and then apply the Interim Fix that resolves PH71687
--OR--
· Apply Liberty Fix Pack 26.0.0.7 or later (targeted availability 3Q2026).
Additional interim fixes may be available and linked off the interim fix download page.
Workarounds and Mitigations
None
Get Notified about Future Security Bulletins
References
To determine if a feature is enabled for IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty, refer to How to determine if Liberty is using a specific feature.
Acknowledgement
Change History
23 Jun 2026: Initial Publication
*The CVSS Environment Score is customer environment specific and will ultimately impact the Overall CVSS Score. Customers can evaluate the impact of this vulnerability in their environments by accessing the links in the Reference section of this Security Bulletin.
Disclaimer
According to the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) is an "industry open standard designed to convey vulnerability severity and help to determine urgency and priority of response." IBM PROVIDES THE CVSS SCORES ""AS IS"" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. CUSTOMERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF ANY ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL SECURITY VULNERABILITY. In addition to other efforts to address potential vulnerabilities, IBM periodically updates the record of components contained in our product offerings. As part of that effort, if IBM identifies previously unidentified packages in a product/service inventory, we address relevant vulnerabilities regardless of CVE date. Inclusion of an older CVEID does not demonstrate that the referenced product has been used by IBM since that date, nor that IBM was aware of a vulnerability as of that date. We are making clients aware of relevant vulnerabilities as we become aware of them. "Affected Products and Versions" referenced in IBM Security Bulletins are intended to be only products and versions that are supported by IBM and have not passed their end-of-support or warranty date. Thus, failure to reference unsupported or extended-support products and versions in this Security Bulletin does not constitute a determination by IBM that they are unaffected by the vulnerability. Reference to one or more unsupported versions in this Security Bulletin shall not create an obligation for IBM to provide fixes for any unsupported or extended-support products or versions.
Document Location
Worldwide
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Document Information
Modified date:
23 June 2026
Initial Publish date:
23 June 2026
UID
ibm17277531