# CVE-2026-89238: Apache WSS4J: WSS4J EncryptedHeader child confusion causing wrong protected-header selection

> Attackers can bypass security policies by confusing encrypted header selection in Apache WSS4J, compromising confidentiality coverage.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 30 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 30 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-89238, GHSA-wm7f-562f-9g52, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89238

## What is CVE-2026-89238?

CVE-2026-89238 is a critical vulnerability in Apache WSS4J, published on 30 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

WSS4J EncryptedHeader child confusion could promote an attacker-controlled plaintext element as the decrypted header, leading to incorrect confidentiality coverage and possible policy bypass.
Users are recommended to upgrade to versions 4.0.2 or 3.0.6 or 2.4.4, which fix this issue.

Weakness: CWE-345 (Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-89238?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Apache Wss4j.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-89238?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-89238 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-89238 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apache WSS4J

- [CVE-2026-88920](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-88920/): Apache WSS4J: SAML Sender-Vouches Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-87830](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-87830/): Apache WSS4J: Streaming WS-SecurityPolicy validation may skip element-protection checks. (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2026-85532](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85532/): Apache WSS4J: Insufficient Validation of Derived-Key Parameters (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-92121](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-92121/): Apache WSS4J: WS-SecurityPolicy signature checks skipped in the streaming code after an STR-Transform reference (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-95616](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-95616/): Apache WSS4J: Unauthenticated denial of service via integer overflow in DER parsing of X.509 certificate extensions (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-89238 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-89238 is a critical vulnerability in Apache WSS4J, published on 30 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apache WSS4J. 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-2026-89238/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89238/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89238
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89238
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-89238

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89238/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.