Improper Input Validation in Apache Camel

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-48204 is a security vulnerability in the Apache Camel camel-mongodb-gridfs component. It arises because certain header names used to control GridFS operations (like gridfs.operation, gridfs.objectid, etc.) do not have the Camel prefix, allowing them to bypass HTTP header filtering. This means an attacker can send specially crafted HTTP requests that manipulate these headers to override the intended GridFS operation.

As a result, an attacker can perform unauthorized actions such as deleting files, listing all files, reading files, or injecting malicious NoSQL queries by supplying manipulated metadata. This happens when the endpoint's operation parameter is not explicitly set, and the route bridges an HTTP consumer to the mongodb-gridfs producer.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can have serious impacts including unauthorized file deletion, unauthorized access to files, and NoSQL injection attacks. An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to delete files by specifying a file ID, enumerate all files in the GridFS bucket, or read files without proper authorization.

Because no credentials are required when the bridging consumer is unauthenticated, the attacker can perform these actions without authentication, potentially leading to data loss, data leakage, or compromise of the database integrity.

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Detection Guidance

Detection of this vulnerability involves monitoring HTTP requests that interact with the camel-mongodb-gridfs component, specifically looking for the presence of untrusted HTTP headers such as gridfs.operation, gridfs.objectid, gridfs.metadata, gridfs.chunksize, and gridfs.fileid.

You can inspect incoming HTTP requests to see if these headers are being set, which could indicate an attempt to exploit the vulnerability.

For example, using command-line tools like curl or tcpdump to capture and analyze HTTP traffic, or using grep to search logs for these header names, may help detect suspicious activity.

• Use tcpdump or Wireshark to capture HTTP traffic and filter for headers containing 'gridfs.operation' or related header names.
• Search application or proxy logs for occurrences of 'gridfs.operation' or other gridfs.* headers using commands like: grep -i 'gridfs.operation' /path/to/logfile
• Use curl to simulate requests with these headers to test if the system is vulnerable, for example: curl -H 'gridfs.operation: remove' http://yourserver/endpoint

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediate mitigation steps include upgrading Apache Camel to a fixed version where the vulnerability is resolved.

• Upgrade to Apache Camel version 4.21.0 or later.
• If using the 4.14.x LTS release stream, upgrade to version 4.14.8.
• If using the 4.18.x release stream, upgrade to version 4.18.3.

After upgrading, ensure that routes use the Camel-prefixed header names (CamelGridFsOperation, CamelGridFsObjectId, CamelGridFsMetadata, CamelGridFsChunkSize, CamelGridFsFileId) instead of the vulnerable gridfs.* headers.

For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, set an explicit operation on the mongodb-gridfs endpoint to prevent operation selection from headers, and strip any untrusted gridfs.* headers from incoming HTTP requests.

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