# CVE-2026-107281: Auth bypass in async-http-client

> Attackers can reuse NTLM/Negotiate connections across identities, causing requests to execute as a different user, leading to privilege escalation or data exposure.

- **Severity:** High 7.6 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 7 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 8 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-107281, GHSA-vvp4-63h8-v5pm, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-107281

## What is CVE-2026-107281?

CVE-2026-107281 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in AsyncHttpClient async-http-client, published on 7 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The AsyncHttpClient (AHC) library allows Java applications to easily execute HTTP requests and asynchronously process HTTP responses. Prior to 3.0.13 and 2.16.1, the HTTP/1.1 connection-pool key excludes the authenticated principal for connection-oriented NTLM and Negotiate authentication. A pooled socket authenticated for one request can be reused by a request carrying another principal, and the server executes that later request as the first identity. Basic and Digest are not affected because they authenticate each request. This issue is fixed in versions 3.0.13 and 2.16.1.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization), CWE-346 (Origin Validation Error)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-107281?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-107281?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-107281 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-107281 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-107281 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-107281 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-107281 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in AsyncHttpClient async-http-client, published on 7 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-107281 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: AsyncHttpClient async-http-client. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-107281/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-107281/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-107281
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-107281
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-107281

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-107281/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.