Unknown severity · Source severity not reportedCVE-2026-108039

Apache CXF: Prevent unbounded XML document size in StaxUtils by adding default element and character limitsCVE-2026-108039

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-108039 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in Apache CXF: Prevent unbounded XML document size in StaxUtils by adding default element and character limits. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps Apache Software Foundation/org.apache.cxf:cxf-core (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Analysis pending evidence review

HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.

Published Oct 9, 2026Updated Oct 9, 2026Source checked Oct 9, 2026First seen by HOL Oct 9, 2026Material review Oct 9, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: Unknown severitySource severity not reported
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 1 mapped package or product
Fix availability: Available

Why this deserves its current priority

A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

The current feed maps Apache Software Foundation/org.apache.cxf:cxf-core (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Mapped affected packages and fixed versions
Package	Affected range	Fixed version
Apache Software Foundation/org.apache.cxf:cxf-coregeneric	>=4.2.0 <4.2.4 \|\| >=4.0.0 <4.1.9 \|\| >=0 <3.6.13	4.2.4, 4.1.9, 3.6.13

Recommended response

Check inventory. Check lockfiles and deployed manifests for Apache Software Foundation/org.apache.cxf:cxf-core.
Review the reported fix. Update Apache Software Foundation/org.apache.cxf:cxf-core to 4.2.4 if you use the affected versions. Test the change in a non-production environment first.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Oct 9, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Oct 9, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Oct 9, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source description

By default, StaxUtils placed no limit on the total number of elements or the total number of characters in an XML document. A very large request could therefore use a lot of memory and CPU during parsing, especially where CXF builds a DOM from the input (for example SAAJ or WS-Security), and could cause a denial of service when no request size limit was configured. Both limits now have defaults: the maximum element count is 100 × maxChildElements (5,000,000 by default), and the maximum document size is 256M characters. Applications that process larger documents can raise the limits with the org.apache.cxf.stax.maxElementCount and org.apache.cxf.stax.maxXMLCharacters properties. Users are recommended to upgrade to versions 4.2.4 or 4.1.9 or 3.6.13, which fix this issue.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.