CVE-2026-84181 Apache Camel: Camel-Shiro Authentication Bypass via Skipped Credential Verification on Subject Reuse
Attackers can bypass authentication in Apache Camel Shiro by exploiting thread reuse to skip credential verification for active principals.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-84181?
CVE-2026-84181 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Apache Camel, published on 19 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Improper Authentication vulnerability in Apache Camel Shiro component.
This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.0.0 before 4.18.5, from 4.19.0 before 4.22.1.
The Shiro security processor skipped credential verification when the subject already bound to the current thread carried the same principal as the incoming exchange. Because the thread that carries a Camel exchange is drawn from a pool and reused across exchanges, a subject left bound by an earlier authenticated exchange could satisfy the check for a later one that presented no valid credentials of its own. The password on the incoming exchange was, in that case, never verified. The condition depends on thread reuse and on the principal matching, which is why it is not reached on every request, but it requires nothing of the attacker beyond sending a request naming a principal that is in active use.
Upgrade to Apache Camel 4.23.0, which fixes the issue. Users on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.18.5. Users on the 4.22.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.22.1. The processor now verifies the presented credentials on every exchange rather than accepting a subject already bound to the thread. Setting alwaysReauthenticate=false restores the previous behaviour for deployments that depend on it. For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, ensure the Shiro subject is cleared from the thread at the end of every exchange so that no subject can be inherited by a later one.
Weakness: CWE-287
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-84181?
How do I fix CVE-2026-84181?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-84181 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2026-84181 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-84181 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-xwpw-3mm7-243x.