By default, the broker property `sasl.oauthbearer.jwt.validator.class` is set to `org.apache.kafka.common.security.oauthbearer.DefaultJwtValidator`. It accepts any JWT token without validating its signature, issuer, or audience. An attacker can generate a JWT token from any issuer with the `preferred_username` set to any user, and the broker will accept it.
We advise the Kafka users using kafka v4.1.0 or v4.1.1 to set the config `sasl.oauthbearer.jwt.validator.class` to `org.apache.kafka.common.security.oauthbearer.BrokerJwtValidator` explicitly to avoid this vulnerability. Since Kafka v4.1.2 and v4.2.0 and later, the issue is fixed and will correctly validate the JWT token.
No advisories yet.
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:45:00 +0000
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Apache
Apache kafka |
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| Vendors & Products |
Apache
Apache kafka |
Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:15:00 +0000
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| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
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Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:30:00 +0000
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| References |
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Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:00:00 +0000
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| Description | A possible security vulnerability has been identified in Apache Kafka. By default, the broker property `sasl.oauthbearer.jwt.validator.class` is set to `org.apache.kafka.common.security.oauthbearer.DefaultJwtValidator`. It accepts any JWT token without validating its signature, issuer, or audience. An attacker can generate a JWT token from any issuer with the `preferred_username` set to any user, and the broker will accept it. We advise the Kafka users using kafka v4.1.0 or v4.1.1 to set the config `sasl.oauthbearer.jwt.validator.class` to `org.apache.kafka.common.security.oauthbearer.BrokerJwtValidator` explicitly to avoid this vulnerability. Since Kafka v4.1.2 and v4.2.0 and later, the issue is fixed and will correctly validate the JWT token. | |
| Title | Apache Kafka: Missing JWT token validation in OAUTHBEARER authentication | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-1285 | |
| References |
|
Projects
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: apache
Published:
Updated: 2026-04-20T14:30:30.936Z
Reserved: 2026-03-23T03:14:53.527Z
Link: CVE-2026-33557
Updated: 2026-04-20T13:38:51.117Z
Status : Received
Published: 2026-04-20T14:16:18.780
Modified: 2026-04-20T16:16:43.887
Link: CVE-2026-33557
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-04-20T16:45:11Z