High [CVE-2026-105942] Apache Pulsar: When a configured proxy role sends a request to the broker on behalf of another user (the original principal), the broker is designed to authorize both the proxy role and the original principal and to allow the request only if both are authorized, so that the original principal cannot exceed its own permissions
This high-severity Apache Software Foundation advisory covers CVE-2026-105942 affecting Apache Pulsar.
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Summary
When a configured proxy role sends a request to the broker on behalf of another user (the original principal), the broker is designed to authorize both the proxy role and the original principal and to allow the request only if both are authorized, so that the original principal cannot exceed its own permissions. Two flaws weakened this check.
First, the original principal was authorized with the proxy's authentication data instead of its own. On the admin REST API of the broker and the functions worker, this applied to every proxied request.
On the Pulsar binary protocol, it applied when the proxy did not forward the client's credentials to the broker, which was the default of the Pulsar proxy in the affected versions. Authorization providers that resolve permissions from the role name only, such as the default authorization provider, are not affected by this flaw.
The multi-role token authorization provider (MultiRolesTokenAuthorizationProvider), added in Apache Pulsar 2.8.1, resolves roles from the role claim of the token in the authentication data it is given. When a proxy authenticates to the broker with its own token, the original principal was therefore authorized with all roles in the proxy's token.
- 2.8.1 before 4.0.14
- 4.1.0 before 4.2.5
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 12 hours ago·verify at source
- 4.0.14
- 4.2.5
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 12 hours ago·verify at source
Mitigation checklist
- This issue affects Apache Pulsar versions from 2.8.1 before 4.0.14 and from 4.1.0 before 4.2.5. - 4.0.x version users should upgrade to at least 4.0.14. - 4.1.x and 4.2.x version users should upgrade to at least 4.2.5.
- Users operating versions prior to those listed above should upgrade to the aforementioned patched versions or newer versions.
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 12 hours ago·verify at source
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