Affects Apache WSS4J, a widely used WS‑Security library in enterprise Java SOAP stacks; allows confidentiality/policy bypass (CVSS 9.1).
CVE-2026-89238
WSS4J EncryptedHeader flaw lets attacker-promoted plaintext bypass confidentiality.
Is CVE-2026-89238 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-89238 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.23% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-89238?
CVE-2026-89238 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.1. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-89238?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-89238. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-89238 affect?
CVE-2026-89238 affects Apache WSS4J 4.x before 4.0.2, Apache WSS4J 3.x before 3.0.6, Apache WSS4J 2.4.x before 2.4.4, Java SOAP services using WSS4J (WS-Security). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-89238?
Upgrade WSS4J to 4.0.2 / 3.0.6 / 2.4.4 immediately.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Attacker can promote attacker-controlled plaintext as a decrypted SOAP header, enabling confidentiality bypass and WS-Security policy circumvention.
Immediate action required
- affected>= 4.0.0 and < 4.0.2
- affected>= 3.0.0 and < 3.0.6
- affected< 2.4.4
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.