Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:LSummary
CVE-2026-33454 is a critical-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Apache Camel. Its CVSS base score is 9.4 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 47th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-33454 is a Camel message header injection vulnerability in the Camel-Mail component of Apache Camel. The custom header filter strategy (MailHeaderFilterStrategy) only filters headers in the 'out' direction via setOutFilterStartsWith, while neglecting the 'in' direction via setInFilterStartsWith. Consequently, when a Camel application consumes mail through camel-mail—such as via from("imap://...") or from("pop3://...")—inbound filter checks are skipped, allowing Camel-prefixed MIME headers to be mapped unfiltered into the Exchange. This issue affects Apache Camel versions from 3.0.0 before 4.14.6 and from 4.15.0 before 4.18.1, and is classified under CWE-502 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.4 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L).
An attacker who can deliver an email to a mailbox monitored by a vulnerable Camel-mail consumer can exploit this flaw by injecting Camel-specific headers. These injected headers can alter the behavior of downstream Camel components, such as camel-bean, camel-exec, or camel-sql, potentially leading to unauthorized code execution, data manipulation, or other route hijacking. The attack requires no privileges and can be performed over the network with low complexity, mirroring patterns addressed in prior vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-30177 (camel-undertow) and CVE-2025-27636/CVE-2025-29891 (incoming-header filters).
The Apache Camel security advisory at https://camel.apache.org/security/CVE-2026-33454.html recommends upgrading to version 4.19.0 to remediate the issue. Users on the 4.18.x LTS stream should upgrade to 4.18.1, while those on the 4.14.x LTS stream should upgrade to 4.14.6.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-25806
Vulnerability Data
The Camel-Mail component is vulnerable to Camel message header injection. The custom header filter strategy used by the component (MailHeaderFilterStrategy) only filters the 'out' direction via setOutFilterStartsWith, while it does not configure the 'in' direction via setInFilterStartsWith. As a result,…
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when a Camel application consumes mail through camel-mail (for example via from(\"imap://...\") or from(\"pop3://...\")) the inbound filter check is skipped and Camel-prefixed MIME headers are mapped unfiltered into the Exchange. An attacker who can deliver an email to a mailbox monitored by such a consumer can inject Camel-specific headers that, for some Camel components downstream of the mail consumer (such as camel-bean, camel-exec, or camel-sql), can alter the behaviour of the route. This is the same pattern that was previously addressed in camel-undertow (CVE-2025-30177) and the broader incoming-header filter (CVE-2025-27636 and CVE-2025-29891). This issue affects Apache Camel: from 3.0.0 before 4.14.6, from 4.15.0 before 4.18.1. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.19.0, which fixes the issue. If users are on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream, then they are suggested to upgrade to 4.18.1. If users are on the 4.14.x LTS releases stream, then they are suggested to upgrade to 4.14.6.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V2.2.2V1.3.1V1.4.2V15.3.7
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can uncover deserialization flaws before deployment.
Input validation directly stops deserialization of untrusted data by ensuring inputs are valid before processing.
Requiring documented development processes and tools can mandate correct adoption of language or library validation frameworks.
Engineering principles such as safe deserialization and input sanitization structurally prevent the weakness from being introduced.
Integrity verification tools can detect malformed or tampered serialized data after the fact.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly require correct adoption of language-provided or library input-validation frameworks.
PR.PS-02 addresses only post-deployment updates/patching and cannot prevent introduction of unsafe deserialization code, yet it can remediate some instances when the flaw exists in outdated libraries or components.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing includes validation of deserialization routines and the use of untrusted data, reducing the likelihood that unsafe object reconstruction will be deployed.
Secure development life cycle mandates use of approved validation frameworks and libraries.
Application security requirements explicitly call for proper input validation mechanisms.
Secure architecture principles encourage validated input handling but do not prescribe frameworks.
Requiring vetted libraries, regular updates and SAST before release reduces the likelihood that deserialization logic will accept and act on attacker-controlled serialized objects.
Regular scanning of third-party libraries and timely patching reduce the likelihood that unsafe deserialization vulnerabilities remain active.