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Mallory
Critical

Apache Camel non-HTTP HeaderFilterStrategy case-variant header injection

IdentifiersCVE-2026-40453CWE-178· Improper Handling of Case…

CVE-2026-40453 is an incomplete fix for CVE-2025-27636 in Apache Camel. The prior fix added setLowerCase(true) to HttpHeaderFilterStrategy so case-variant internal header names would be normalized before filtering, but the same protection was not applied to five non-HTTP HeaderFilterStrategy implementations: JmsHeaderFilterStrategy and ClassicJmsHeaderFilterStrategy in camel-jms, SjmsHeaderFilterStrategy in camel-sjms, CoAPHeaderFilterStrategy in camel-coap, and GooglePubsubHeaderFilterStrategy in camel-google-pubsub. These strategies perform case-sensitive String.startsWith("Camel") / String.startsWith("camel") checks, while Camel Exchange stores headers in a case-insensitive map. As a result, an attacker can supply case-variant internal Camel headers such as CAmelExecCommandExecutable that bypass filtering but are later resolved by downstream components using canonical casing. On affected routes, this allows injection of internal Camel control headers into header-driven components such as camel-exec and camel-file. The issue affects Apache Camel from 3.0.0 before 4.14.6, from 4.15.0 before 4.18.2, and from 4.19.0 before 4.20.0.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

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Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can allow remote code execution and arbitrary file write, depending on the downstream Camel components and route design. Specifically, if a vulnerable route consumes attacker-controlled messages from JMS or an equivalent broker and forwards them to header-driven components, injected internal Camel headers can influence component behavior. Components explicitly cited as impacted include camel-exec and camel-file.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate upgrade is not possible, reduce exposure by preventing untrusted producers from sending messages to JMS or equivalent brokers consumed by Camel routes, and avoid forwarding untrusted message headers into header-driven components. Review and harden routes using camel-jms, camel-sjms, camel-coap, or camel-google-pubsub, especially where messages are passed to components such as camel-exec or camel-file. Where feasible, strip or explicitly allowlist headers before routing to sensitive downstream components.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Apache Camel to a fixed version. Apache recommends upgrading to 4.20.0. For users on the 4.14.x LTS stream, upgrade to 4.14.6. For users on the 4.18.x stream, upgrade to 4.18.2. The fix completes the earlier remediation by applying lowercasing-based filtering to the previously missed non-HTTP HeaderFilterStrategy implementations.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

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VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

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EXPOSURE SURFACE

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VendorProductType
Apache Software FoundationCamelapplication

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