Resource exhaustion via unbounded derived-key parameters
Published Sep 30, 2026 · Updated Sep 30, 2026
Derived-key validation in Apache WSS4J allows remote attackers to exhaust resources through crafted WS-Security messages. DerivedKeyUtils accepted message-supplied key lengths and offsets without upper bounds, causing P_SHA-1 derivation to allocate memory and perform HMAC work proportional to those values; insufficient minimum length also permits weak derived keys. Exposure requires an embedding SOAP service to process attacker-supplied DerivedKeyToken headers, because WSS4J is a library rather than a standalone network service.
Summary
What happened
Derived-key validation in Apache WSS4J allows remote attackers to exhaust resources through crafted WS-Security messages. DerivedKeyUtils accepted message-supplied key lengths and offsets without upper bounds, causing P_SHA-1 derivation to allocate memory and perform HMAC work proportional to those values; insufficient minimum length also permits weak derived keys. Exposure requires an embedding SOAP service to process attacker-supplied DerivedKeyToken headers, because WSS4J is a library rather than a standalone network service.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-85532
- Published
- Sep 30, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 30, 2026
- Vendor
- Apache Software Foundation
- Product
- Apache WSS4J
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 30, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 30, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=0 <2.4.4
- Affected versionversion=3.0.0 <3.0.6
- Affected versionversion=4.0.0 <4.0.2
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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