CVE-2026-66142 Apache CVE debrief

Who should care

Users of Apache Neethi, especially those who parse policies with potentially deeply nested structures or lacking policy Ids, should be aware of this vulnerability. Upgrading to version 3.2.3 is recommended to mitigate the risk of a denial of service attack. Operators, platform administrators, and security teams should review the vulnerability and take necessary precautions.

Technical summary

The vulnerability in Apache Neethi arises from uncontrolled recursion during policy parsing. This can occur when policies either lack policy Ids or have deeply nested structures. The consequence of this vulnerability is a denial of service attack due to runtime memory exhaustion. The issue is addressed in version 3.2.3. Users of Apache Neethi should be aware of this vulnerability and take necessary precautions.

Defensive priority

High

Recommended defensive actions

• Upgrade Apache Neethi to version 3.2.3 or later
• Review and update policies to avoid deeply nested structures when possible
• Implement monitoring to detect potential denial of service attacks
• Review compensating controls for exposed systems while remediation is scheduled and verified
• Check relevant monitoring, detection, and logs for exposed assets that need extra review
• Track exceptions, retest remediated assets, and close the item only after evidence is documented
• Confirm whether affected product deployments exist in managed environments and assign an owner for follow-up

Evidence notes

The CVE record was published on 2026-07-24T13:18:29.237Z and was last modified on 2026-07-27T14:35:32.197Z. The NVD entry is currently Analyzed. This information is based on the NVD entry and the CVE record. The vulnerability affects Apache Neethi, which is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion when parsing policies that lack policy Ids or with deeply nested structures.

Official resources