NeethiApplication · Apache
CVE-2026-42402
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedApache 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.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceApache Neethi before 3.2.2 suffers from an unbounded algorithmic complexity vulnerability in its WS-Policy normalization process. Specially crafted policy documents trigger an exponential Cartesian cross-product expansion that generates excessive policy alternatives without limits, causing the JVM heap to exhaust due to unbounded memory allocation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
NeethiApplication
< 3.2.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate Apache Neethi library in the environmentSearch for neethi*.jar files in application lib directories, classpaths, or dependency manifests (pom.xml, build.gradle, MANIFEST.MF). For Java applications, use: find . -name "neethi*.jar" or grep -r "neethi" pom.xmlAffected if Neethi library is present in the environment
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Identify the installed Neethi versionExtract the version from the jar filename, or inspect META-INF/MANIFEST.MF inside the neethi jar, or check the dependency management file (pom.xml/build.gradle) for the neethi version entryAffected if Version is less than 3.2.2 or version cannot be determined (treat as vulnerable)
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Determine if WS-Policy processing is activeInspect application configuration files (such as axis2.xml, services.xml) for policyEngineConfig or WS-Policy reference elements. Check if the application uses Apache Axis2 or other frameworks that invoke Neethi's PolicyBuilder for normalizationAffected if WS-Policy normalization is being performed on user-supplied or external policy documents
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Check for heap exhaustion symptoms in logsReview JVM crash logs, application logs, and GC logs for OutOfMemoryError messages occurring during policy processing. Search for patterns like 'OutOfMemoryError' near 'Policy' or 'Neethi' keywordsAffected if OutOfMemoryError events correlate with policy normalization operations
Environment is affected if Apache Neethi version < 3.2.2 is present AND WS-Policy documents are being processed through Neethi's normalization engine.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped3.2.2
Upgrade Apache Neethi to version 3.2.2 or later, which implements limits on the maximum number of normalized policy alternatives to prevent memory exhaustion.
3.2.2
- Locate the Apache Neethi dependency in your project's build configuration (pom.xml, build.gradle, or equivalent)
- Update the Neethi library version from the current version to 3.2.2
- Rebuild and test your application to verify the upgrade does not introduce regressions
- If using a transitive dependency, explicitly declare the 3.2.2 version to override the older version
- For Maven projects, run 'mvn dependency:tree' to confirm the correct version is resolved
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Neethi
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-42402 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-42402 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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