Skip to content

In Spring for Apache Kafka, overly broad trusted-package matching in header mappers exposes JDK classes to deserialization

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jun 10, 2026 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Jun 12, 2026

Package

maven org.springframework.kafka:spring-kafka (Maven)

Affected versions

>= 4.0.0, <= 4.0.5
>= 3.3.0, <= 3.3.15
>= 3.2.0, <= 3.2.13
>= 2.9.0, <= 2.9.13
<= 2.8.11

Patched versions

4.0.6
3.3.16

Description

JsonKafkaHeaderMapper and the deprecated DefaultKafkaHeaderMapper matched type headers against trusted packages using a prefix check, meaning that trusting any package implicitly trusted all of its subpackages. Combined with Jackson's default bean deserialization, a producer could supply crafted header values that caused the consumer to deserialize arbitrary JDK types.

Affected versions:
Spring for Apache Kafka 4.0.0 through 4.0.5; 3.3.0 through 3.3.15; 3.2.0 through 3.2.13; 2.9.0 through 2.9.13; 2.8.0 through 2.8.11.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Jun 10, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jun 10, 2026
Last updated Jun 12, 2026
Reviewed Jun 12, 2026

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(39th percentile)

Weaknesses

Deserialization of Untrusted Data

The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-41731

GHSA ID

GHSA-xq69-5h5v-x9x4

Source code

Credits

Loading Checking history
See something to contribute? Suggest improvements for this vulnerability.