Description
Apache WSS4J remembers the Nonce of each UsernameToken it accepts, so a captured token cannot be reused. It stored the Nonce as raw base64 text, but authentication decodes that text and uses the bytes.The same bytes can be written as base64 in several ways. An attacker who captured an authenticated request could re-send it with a space added to the Nonce: the password digest still verified, but the token no longer matched the remembered one, so the replay was accepted. Since a UsernameToken does not cover the message body, the captured token could then be reused on requests of the attacker's choosing until it expired. Affects deployments with a nonce replay cache configured, as Apache CXF has by default, and only tokens using a password digest. The cache is now keyed on the decoded Nonce. Users are recommended to upgrade to versions 4.0.2 or 3.0.6 or 2.4.4, which fix this issue.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apache Software Foundation | Apache WSS4J | 4.0.0 – < 4.0.2, 3.0.0 – < 3.0.6, < 2.4.4 | 4.0.2 |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | wss4j | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 13 | wss4j | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | wss4j | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | wss4j | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | wss4j | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | wss4j | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | wss4j | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | wss4j | No fix yet | — |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | wss4j | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | wss4j | No fix yet | — |