# CVE-2026-90979: Apache Karaf: LDAP filter injection in JAAS LDAP login modules

> Attackers can inject LDAP filters via crafted usernames in specific login modules to bypass authentication or escalate privileges.

- **Severity:** High 7.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 28 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 30 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-932c-qw9f-cpcq

## What is CVE-2026-90979?

CVE-2026-90979 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache Karaf, published on 28 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

LDAPCache and LDAPBackingEngine build LDAP search filters for user lookup and role lookup by textually substituting the placeholders %u, %dn, and %fqdn (drawn from the login name, the resolved user DN, and its fully qualified namespace form) into administrator-configured filter templates (userFilter, roleFilter). Before the fix, the only sanitization applied to the substituted value was double backslashed:

filter = filter.replaceAll(Pattern.quote("%u"), Matcher.quoteReplacement(user));

filter = filter.replace("\\", "\\\\");

This does not escape the other characters RFC 4515 requires escaping in an LDAP search filter: *, (, ), and NUL. A login name containing any of these can change the structure of the resulting filter rather than being matched as a literal value (e.g. a crafted username can turn an equality match into a wildcard match, or close/reopen filter clauses), widening what the search returns and potentially causing a login or role lookup to match an LDAP entry other than the intended one, over-granting roles, and depending on deployment-specific filter templates, potentially affecting which account a login resolved to.

It's not exploitable through every entry points: LDAPLoginModule and LDAPPubkeyLoginModule both called Util.doRFC2254Encoding() (correct RFC 4515 escaping) on the login name before handing it to LDAPCache, which masked the missing escaping in LDAPCache for those two call paths. Using LDAPCache directly (bypassing the login modules) does not reproduce through the normal LDAPLoginModule/LDAPPubkeyLoginModule authentication flow for this reason. It does reproduce through two other call paths that reach LDAPCache/LDAPBackingEngine without any prior escaping:

  *  GSSAPILdapLoginModule passes the NameCallback name straight through, unescaped.
  *  LDAPBackingEngine (listRoles) passes principal.getName() straight through, unescaped.

Weakness: CWE-90 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an LDAP Query)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90979?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Apache Karaf.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-90979?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-90979 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-90979 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90979 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apache Karaf

- [CVE-2026-91012](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-91012/): Apache Karaf: Path Traversal in Config Service Allows Manager-to-Admin Privilege Escalation (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-91048](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-91048/): Missing authorization in Apache Karaf (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-40145](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-40145/): Apache Karaf: JDBC JAAS LDAP injection (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-11788](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11788/): XML External Entity Reference in Apache Karaf (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-92142](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-92142/): Apache Karaf: Authorization bypass in JMX MBean lifecycle operations (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-90979 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-90979 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache Karaf, published on 28 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-2026-90979 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apache Karaf. 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-2026-90979/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90979/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-90979
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90979
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-90979

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90979/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.