CVE-2026-85257
Generation of Error Message Containing Sensitive Information vulnerability in Apache Camel CXF component. This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.0.0 before 4.18.5, from 4.19.0 before 4.22.1. When a route behind a CXF SOAP consumer failed with an exception the service contract does not declare, the exception was described back to the SOAP client in the fault: CXF copies the message into the SOAP faultstring, and can be configured to place the stack trace in the fault detail. An external caller able to provoke a failure could therefore read internal detail about the deployment - class and package names, and whatever the exception message carries. Declared faults, annotated @WebFault, are a different matter: those are part of the published contract that clients are written against, and suppressing them would break the service rather than protect anything. Upgrade to Apache Camel 4.23.0, which fixes the issue. Users on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.18.5. Users on the 4.22.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.22.1. A muteException consumer option, defaulting to true, replaces an undeclared route failure with a generic fault carrying no class name, message or stack trace. Faults the contract declares are reported exactly as before. Set muteException=false to restore the previous output. For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, declare the exceptions the service is allowed to report and map every other failure onto one of them in an onException handler, so no undeclared exception reaches the fault.
Executive briefing
The source record describes: Generation of Error Message Containing Sensitive Information vulnerability in Apache Camel CXF component. This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.0.0 before 4.18.5, from 4.19.0 before 4.22.1. When a route behind a CXF SOAP consumer failed with an exception the service contract does not declare, the exception was described back to the SOAP client in the fault: CXF copies the message into the SOAP faultstring, and can be configured to place the stack trace in the fault detail. An external caller able to provoke a failure could therefore read internal detail about the deployment - class and package names, and whatever the exception message carries. Declared faults, annotated @WebFault, are a different matter: those are part of the published contract that clients are written against, and suppressing them would break the service rather than protect anything. Upgrade to Apache Camel 4.23.0, which fixes the issue. Users on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.18.5. Users on the 4.22.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.22.1. A muteException consumer option, defaulting to true, replaces an undeclared route failure with a generic fault carrying no class name, message or stack trace. Faults the contract declares are reported exactly as before. Set muteException=false to restore the previous output. For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, declare the exceptions the service is allowed to report and map every other failure onto one of them in an onException handler, so no undeclared exception reaches the fault. The practical risk depends on whether an affected product/version is present, reachable and configured in an exploitable way. Review the affected-product evidence and linked vendor advisories before assigning exposure status.
Evidence confidence: Moderate Evidence-derived, not an exploitability verdict
Severity & attack characteristics
CVSS vector:CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Technical explanation & impact
The technical mechanism is not expanded beyond the source description unless a referenced advisory supplies additional evidence. Read the linked vendor/CERT advisories for root-cause detail.
Potential impact must be interpreted from the published CVSS impact metrics and the affected component. A CVSS impact score is not proof that a particular asset is exploitable.
Weakness classification
CWE-209Affected products and versions
Products below are parsed from NVD vulnerable CPE configuration entries. Version boundaries are shown as published; verify applicability with the vendor.
| Vendor | Product | Version evidence |
|---|---|---|
| apache | camel | from (inclusive) 4.19.0; before 4.22.1 |
Remediation & validation
- Identify exposure by comparing the affected product and version ranges with your asset inventory, SBOM and externally exposed services.
- Review the linked vendor security advisory or patch notes. Upgrade to a vendor-confirmed fixed release; do not infer a fixed version from the CVE description.
- Until patched, consider restricting network access or disabling the affected feature where operationally safe. These are temporary controls, not a substitute for a vendor fix.
- Validate the remediation with a version check and vulnerability rescan, then retain change evidence.
No fixed version is displayed unless it is explicitly established by a vendor advisory. Follow the vendor's release notes for exact product and branch applicability.
Vendor advisories, patches & exploit references
- https://camel.apache.org/security/CVE-2026-85257.html PATCH security@apache.org
- https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25742 PATCH security@apache.org
- https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25934 PATCH security@apache.org
- https://github.com/apache/camel/pull/25935 PATCH security@apache.org
- https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CAMEL-24477 PATCH security@apache.org