Apache Neethi 3.2.4 Addresses Five Policy Processing Flaws
Tech GuruQuick Answer
The authority published CVE-2026-91863 for Apache Neethi releases before 3.2.4. A specially crafted WS-Policy document with deeply nested policy elements can bypass Neethi's nesting-depth limit and exhaust the thread stack, crashing the parser (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue. A specially crafted WS-Policy document can pack unlimited content inside a policy assertion, which Neethi copies into memory without counting it against its size limits, exhausting the heap (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue. A small WS-Policy document using repeated policy references can force Neethi to re-expand the same references exponentially during normalization, consuming huge amounts of CPU and memory (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue. A specially crafted pair of WS-Policy documents can force Neethi's policy-intersection to do exponential amounts of work, pinning the CPU for a long time (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue. When Neethi fetches a remote policy reference, it only limits the time per read, not the whole transfer, so a server that trickles bytes slowly can keep the fetch alive indefinitely and tie up the calling thread (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue. Affected deployments should be matched to the authority's exact scope and moved to the supported fixed release.
Confirm Scope And Apply The Supported Fix
What to do now: Inventory Apache Neethi releases before 3.2.4, match the exact affected release or feature, apply the authority-supported fixed build or service remediation, validate the dependent workflow, and preserve evidence.
Last verified: 2026-09-21 UTC. Recheck the authoritative advisory and supported distribution channel before changing production.
Scope And Authority
| Product scope | Apache Neethi releases before 3.2.4 |
|---|---|
| Advisory | CVE-2026-91863 / CVE-2026-91864 / CVE-2026-91865 / CVE-2026-91866 / CVE-2026-91867 |
| CVEs | CVE-2026-91863, CVE-2026-91864, CVE-2026-91865, CVE-2026-91866, CVE-2026-91867 |
| Authoritative release date | 2026-09-21 11:25:26.648 UTC |
| Authority revision date | 2026-09-21 13:36:42.505 UTC |
| Affected versions | Apache Neethi releases before 3.2.4 |
| Fixed version | Apache Neethi 3.2.4 |
| CVSS base score | Not provided by the authority |
| CVSS severity | Not provided by the authority |
| Exploitation status | Not stated by the authority; no exploitation claim is inferred. |
What Changed
A specially crafted WS-Policy document with deeply nested policy elements can bypass Neethi's nesting-depth limit and exhaust the thread stack, crashing the parser (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue. A specially crafted WS-Policy document can pack unlimited content inside a policy assertion, which Neethi copies into memory without counting it against its size limits, exhausting the heap (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue. A small WS-Policy document using repeated policy references can force Neethi to re-expand the same references exponentially during normalization, consuming huge amounts of CPU and memory (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue. A specially crafted pair of WS-Policy documents can force Neethi's policy-intersection to do exponential amounts of work, pinning the CPU for a long time (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue. When Neethi fetches a remote policy reference, it only limits the time per read, not the whole transfer, so a server that trickles bytes slowly can keep the fetch alive indefinitely and tie up the calling thread (denial of service). Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.4, which fixes this issue.
What To Validate Now
- Inventory. Locate Apache Neethi releases before 3.2.4 deployments, versions, enabled features, exposure paths, owners, and dependent services.
- Establish applicability. Compare each deployment with the authority's affected-version statement: Apache Neethi releases before 3.2.4 Do not infer applicability from product family or severity alone.
- Remediate. Apply Apache Neethi 3.2.4 through the supported vendor or project channel, following the current advisory and change-control requirements.
- Validate. Confirm the resulting version or managed-service state, exercise representative functionality and recovery paths, monitor for regressions, and document exceptions.
- Retain evidence. Preserve asset and owner identifiers, the applicability decision, before-and-after versions, change approval, installation output, validation results, and any exception or rollback record.
Operational Cautions
Use the exact supported release stream and repository. Test dependencies, clusters, integrations, and rollback before broad deployment; a CVSS rating or reachable feature is not evidence of exploitation.
Evidence To Retain
- Exact product, release stream, package or application version, enabled feature, environment, and accountable owner.
- UTC timestamps, authority revision, approved change record, installer or package-manager output, and resulting version.
- Relevant logs and monitoring evidence, test results, exceptions, compensating controls, and rollback decisions.
Related TechGeeks Resources
Authoritative References
Correction policy: If the authority changes affected versions, fixed versions, severity, exploitation information, mitigations, or required action, TechGeeks will update this notice and its verification date.
