Apache disclosed CVE-2026-40048, an unsafe deserialization flaw in the Camel-PQC component of Apache Camel that can lead to arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability is in FileBasedKeyLifecycleManager, which deserializes <keyId>.key files with java.io.ObjectInputStream without ObjectInputFilter or class-loading restrictions, allowing malicious readObject() behavior to run before the data is cast to java.security.KeyPair. An attacker who can place a crafted file in the configured key directory—through path traversal, weak filesystem permissions, a compromised key provisioning pipeline, or a symlink attack—could execute code in the context of the Camel application.
The issue affects org.apache.camel:camel-pqc versions 4.19.0 before 4.20.0 and 4.18.0 before 4.18.2. Apache fixed the flaw by replacing ObjectInputStream-based key and metadata storage with PKCS#8 and X.509 SubjectPublicKeyInfo Base64 JSON encoding, and advised users to upgrade to 4.20.0 or 4.18.2 on the 4.18.x LTS line. Apache credited Andrea Cosentino of the Apache Software Foundation and Venkatraman Kumar of Securin with discovering the vulnerability.

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An oss-sec post summarized CVE-2026-40048, describing the unsafe deserialization issue in Camel-PQC's FileBasedKeyLifecycleManager and reiterating that upgrading to Camel 4.20.0 or 4.18.2 mitigates the risk. The post did not introduce materially new incident details beyond Apache's advisory.
Apache disclosed CVE-2026-40048 as a high-severity unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Camel-PQC that could allow arbitrary code execution if an attacker can write crafted serialized objects into the configured key directory. The advisory credited Andrea Cosentino of the Apache Software Foundation and Venkatraman Kumar of Securin for discovering the issue and urged users to upgrade.
Apache addressed an unsafe deserialization flaw in Camel-PQC's FileBasedKeyLifecycleManager by replacing ObjectInputStream-based key storage with PKCS#8 and X.509 SubjectPublicKeyInfo Base64 JSON encoding. The fix was released in Apache Camel versions 4.20.0 and 4.18.2, affecting vulnerable versions 4.19.0 before 4.20.0 and 4.18.0 before 4.18.2.
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