VulnerabilityPublished 28 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-111496: Apache Kafka · Integer Overflow or Wraparound

Affects Apache KafkaSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · fixed in 4.2.2 : patch Apache Kafka soon.

Data as of 28 Oct 2026, 17:23 UTC

Severity

High

Rated High by Threat Radar's AI analysis · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

Patch: Available – fixed in 4.2.2

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 28 Oct 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apache Kafkaorg.apache.kafka:kafka-streams	Affected >=1.1.0 <=4.1.2 >=4.2.0 <=4.2.1 >=4.3.0 <=4.3.1	Fixed in–
MavenApache Software Foundation/org.apache.kafka:kafka-streams`pkg:maven/Apache Software Foundation/org.apache.kafka:kafka-streams`Other threats	Affected >=1.1.0 <=4.1.2 >=4.2.0 <=4.2.1 >=4.3.0 <=4.3.1	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Upgrade Apache Kafka Streams to version 4.2.2, 4.3.2, or 4.4.0 where the vulnerability is fixed by adding overflow-checked arithmetic and clamping the punctuation time. Additionally, maintain the default or a bounded setting for log.message.timestamp.after.max.ms on source topics to reject excessively large timestamps. Restrict write access to source topics that use stream-time punctuation to trusted users only. These measures prevent triggering the overflow condition and the resulting StreamThread hang.

Description

CVE-2026-111496 is an integer overflow vulnerability in Apache Kafka Streams affecting versions from 1.1.0 through 4.1.2, 4.2.0 through 4.2.1, and 4.3.0 through 4.3.1. The flaw occurs when computing the next punctuation time without overflow checks, causing the stream-time clock to overflow to a negative value and stall the processing thread indefinitely. This leads to the affected StreamThread hanging and the Streams application becoming unresponsive. The issue requires write access to a source topic using stream-time punctuation and is mitigated in Kafka Streams versions 4.2.2, 4.3.2, and 4.4.0 by adding overflow-checked arithmetic and clamping the punctuation time. Brokers from Kafka 4.0.0 onward reject such problematic timestamps by default, limiting exposure to older or misconfigured brokers.

Impact

A single specially crafted record with a timestamp near Long.MAX_VALUE can cause the affected StreamThread to hang indefinitely, stopping processing. Because the problematic record remains in the topic, the hang recurs on restart, potentially rendering the entire Streams application unresponsive if all partitions are affected. The vulnerability does not impact Kafka brokers or the cluster itself. Exploitation requires write access to a source topic that uses stream-time punctuation and a broker that accepts such timestamps, which is prevented by default in Kafka 4.0.0 and later. Thus, the impact is localized to the Streams application and depends on broker configuration and access controls.

CWE-190Integer Overflow or Wraparound (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product performs a calculation that can produce an integer overflow or wraparound when the logic assumes that the resulting value will always be larger than the original value. This occurs when an integer value is incremented to a value that is too large to store in the associated representation. When this occurs, the value may become a very small or negative number.
Requirements
Ensure that all protocols are strictly defined, such that all out-of-bounds behavior can be identified simply, and require strict conformance to the protocol.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.4.3 (opens in a new tab)
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Forced Integer Overflow (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop.

References

kafka.apache.org/cve-list (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 28 Oct 2026, 17:23 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-190, CWE-835

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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