CVE-2026-35554

Apache Kafka Clients: Kafka Producer Message Corruption and Misrouting via Buffer Pool Race Condition

Published Apr 7, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 8.7 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
A race condition in the Apache Kafka Java producer client’s buffer pool management can cause messages to be silently delivered to incorrect topics.

When a produce batch expires due to delivery.timeout.ms while a network request containing that batch is still in flight, the batch’s ByteBuffer is prematurely deallocated and returned to the buffer pool. If a subsequent producer batch—potentially destined for a different topic—reuses this freed buffer before the original network request completes, the buffer contents may become corrupted. This can result in messages being delivered to unintended topics without any error being reported to the producer.


Data Confidentiality:
Messages intended for one topic may be delivered to a different topic, potentially exposing sensitive data to consumers who have access to the destination topic but not the intended source topic.

Data Integrity:
Consumers on the receiving topic may encounter unexpected or incompatible messages, leading to deserialization failures, processing errors, and corrupted downstream data.

This issue affects Apache Kafka versions ≤ 3.9.1, ≤ 4.0.1, and  ≤ 4.1.1.

Kafka users are advised to upgrade to 3.9.2, 4.0.2, 4.1.2, 4.2.0, or later to address this vulnerability.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-5qcv-4rpc-jp93 Apache Kafka Clients: Kafka Producer Message Corruption and Misrouting via Buffer Pool Race Condition
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:apache:kafka:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Apache
Apache kafka
Vendors & Products Apache
Apache kafka
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A race condition in the Apache Kafka Java producer client’s buffer pool management can cause messages to be silently delivered to incorrect topics. When a produce batch expires due to delivery.timeout.ms while a network request containing that batch is still in flight, the batch’s ByteBuffer is prematurely deallocated and returned to the buffer pool. If a subsequent producer batch—potentially destined for a different topic—reuses this freed buffer before the original network request completes, the buffer contents may become corrupted. This can result in messages being delivered to unintended topics without any error being reported to the producer. Data Confidentiality: Messages intended for one topic may be delivered to a different topic, potentially exposing sensitive data to consumers who have access to the destination topic but not the intended source topic. Data Integrity: Consumers on the receiving topic may encounter unexpected or incompatible messages, leading to deserialization failures, processing errors, and corrupted downstream data. This issue affects Apache Kafka versions ≤ 3.9.1, ≤ 4.0.1, and  ≤ 4.1.1. Kafka users are advised to upgrade to 3.9.2, 4.0.2, 4.1.2, 4.2.0, or later to address this vulnerability.
Title Apache Kafka Clients: Kafka Producer Message Corruption and Misrouting via Buffer Pool Race Condition
Weaknesses CWE-362
CWE-416
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N'}

ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
apache
Published
Updated
Apr 7, 2026, 4:23 PM
Reserved
Apr 3, 2026, 11:08 AM
Status
Analyzed
Published
Apr 7, 2026, 2:16 PM
Modified
Oct 26, 2026, 9:10 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Apr 7, 2026, 1:07 PM