Apache Camel up to 4.18.1/4.19.x Camel-PQC deserialization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Apache Camel up to 4.18.1/4.19.x. Impacted is an unknown function of the component Camel-PQC. The manipulation leads to deserialization. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-40048. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Apache Camel up to 4.18.1/4.19.x and classified as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Camel-PQC. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a deserialization vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-502. The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently verifying that the resulting data will be valid. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The Camel-PQC FileBasedKeyLifecycleManager class deserializes the contents of `<keyId>.key` files in the configured key directory using java.io.ObjectInputStream without applying any ObjectInputFilter or class-loading restrictions. The cast to `java.security.KeyPair` is evaluated only after `readObject()` has already returned, so any `readObject()` side effects in the deserialized object run before the type check. An attacker who can write to the key directory used by a Camel application — for example through a path traversal into the directory, misconfigured filesystem permissions on the volume where keys are stored, a compromised key provisioning pipeline, or a symlink attack — can place a crafted serialized Java object that, when deserialized during normal key lifecycle operations, results in arbitrary code execution in the context of the application. This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.19.0 before 4.20.0, from 4.18.0 before 4.18.2. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.20.0, which fixes the issue by replacing java.io.ObjectInputStream-based key and metadata storage with standard PKCS#8 (private key) / X.509 SubjectPublicKeyInfo (public key) Base64 JSON encoding. For users on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream, upgrade to 4.18.2.

It is possible to read the advisory at lists.apache.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-40048. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 07/02/2026).

Upgrading to version 4.18.2 or 4.20.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• Apache

Name

• Camel

Version

• 4.0
• 4.1
• 4.2
• 4.3
• 4.4
• 4.5
• 4.6
• 4.7
• 4.8
• 4.9
• 4.10
• 4.11
• 4.12
• 4.13
• 4.14
• 4.15
• 4.16
• 4.17
• 4.18
• 4.18.0
• 4.18.1
• 4.19

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.apache.org/

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CPE 2.2info

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