CVE-2026-40047 Apache CVE debrief

Who should care

Users of Apache Camel from version 4.15.0 before 4.18.3 should be concerned as their systems may be vulnerable to argument injection and directory traversal attacks. This concern applies to operators, platform administrators, vulnerability management teams, and security teams who need to assess and mitigate the risk associated with this vulnerability.

Technical summary

The Apache Camel Docling component is vulnerable to an Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection') vulnerability. This is due to insufficient validation of custom CLI arguments supplied through the `CamelDoclingCustomArguments` exchange header. An attacker could cause the producer to pass unrecognized or unintended `docling` CLI flags to the subprocess and supply path-like argument values that resolve outside the intended directory through traversal sequences. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 9.1 and is considered CRITICAL.

Defensive priority

High, as the vulnerability has a CVSS score of 9.1 and is considered CRITICAL.

Recommended defensive actions

• Upgrade to Apache Camel version 4.19.0 or later
• Apply the CAMEL-23212 fix
• Avoid mapping untrusted message content into the `CamelDoclingCustomArguments` header and path-bearing headers
• Strip Camel-internal headers from messages that arrive from untrusted producers
• Confirm whether affected product deployments exist in managed environments and assign an owner for follow-up
• Review compensating controls for exposed systems while remediation is scheduled and verified
• Track exceptions, retest remediated assets, and close the item only after evidence is documented

Evidence notes

The vulnerability was reported in the CVE record and NVD detail pages. The fix involves replacing the denylist with a strict allowlist of recognized `docling` CLI flags, rejecting unrecognized flags, and normalizing path-like values with Path.normalize() before validating them. Evidence limits and source confidence should be considered when assessing the vulnerability.

Official resources