CVE-2026-85716 AsyncHttpClient: SCRAM and Digest mutual-authentication responses are not verified
Attackers can bypass SCRAM and Digest mutual authentication in AsyncHttpClient by exploiting unverified server signatures, allowing impersonation of the server.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-85716?
CVE-2026-85716 is a low-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in AsyncHttpClient async-http-client, published on 17 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, 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. From 3.0.8 until 3.0.12, processScramAuthenticationInfo and processAuthenticationInfo compute the SCRAM ServerSignature or Digest rspauth verification result but log a mismatch and still deliver the response as authenticated. On a non-TLS or compromised transport, a peer that has not proved knowledge of the shared secret can therefore be accepted as the server. The fix rejects a present invalid value and computes Digest rspauth from the Authorization parameters actually sent, but verification remains unenforced when the value is absent, the sent parameters cannot be recovered, or Digest uses qop=auth-int. This issue is fixed in version 3.0.12.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-85716?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.asynchttpclient:async-http-client.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.asynchttpclient:async-http-client Maven | From 3.0.8 | 3.0.12 |
org.asynchttpclient:async-http-client Maven | From 3.0.8 | 3.0.12 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-85716?
Upgrade org.asynchttpclient:async-http-client to 3.0.12 or later.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2026-85716 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-85716 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-fj9w-c36g-h5x8, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-85716.