Spring discloses deserialization flaws in Kafka header mappers and JMS converters
Spring disclosed two high-severity unsafe deserialization vulnerabilities affecting widely used messaging components: CVE-2026-41731 in Spring for Apache Kafka and CVE-2026-41855 in the Spring Framework. The Kafka issue stems from overly broad trusted-package matching in JsonKafkaHeaderMapper and the deprecated DefaultKafkaHeaderMapper, where prefix-based checks caused trust in a package to extend to all subpackages. Spring said a malicious producer could abuse crafted Kafka header values together with Jackson's default bean deserialization to make consumers instantiate arbitrary JDK classes, and assigned the flaw CWE-502 with a CVSS:3.1 vector of AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
The related Spring Framework flaw affects Jackson-based JMS message converters in untrusted JMS environments, where deserialization of gadget classes can enable arbitrary class instantiation and unauthorized actions. Affected Kafka versions include 4.0.0-4.0.5, 3.3.0-3.3.15, 3.2.0-3.2.13, 2.9.0-2.9.13, and 2.8.0-2.8.11, while Spring recommended upgrading Kafka deployments to fixed releases such as 4.0.6 and 3.3.16, with commercial fixes for other branches. The JMS converter issue impacts Spring Framework 7.0.0-7.0.7, 6.2.0-6.2.18, 6.1.0-6.1.27, and 5.3.0-5.3.48, extending the exposure across multiple supported and legacy release lines.

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How this story unfolded
3 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
VMware receives vulnerability report for CVE-2026-41731
The CVE-2026-41731 vulnerability report was received by security@vmware.com. The flaw affects multiple Spring for Apache Kafka versions and can allow deserialization of arbitrary JDK types through crafted Kafka header values.
Spring publishes CVE-2026-41731 advisory and fixes
Spring disclosed CVE-2026-41731, a high-severity deserialization flaw in Spring for Apache Kafka caused by overly broad trusted-package matching in header mappers. The advisory recommended upgrading to fixed releases including 4.0.6 and 3.3.16, with corresponding commercial fixes for other supported branches.
Spring receives report for CVE-2026-41855
A vulnerability report for CVE-2026-41855 affecting Spring Framework JMS message converters was received by security@vmware.com. The issue involves unsafe deserialization via Jackson-based JMS converters in untrusted JMS environments.
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CVE-2026-41731 - In Spring for Apache Kafka, overly broad trusted-package matching in header mappers exposes JDK classes to deserialization
cvefeed.io
Open sourceCVE-2026-41731: In Spring for Apache Kafka, overly broad trusted-package matching in header mappers exposes JDK classes to deserialization
spring.io
Open sourceCVE-2026-41855 - Spring Framework Unsafe Deserialization via Jackson JMS Converters
cvefeed.io
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