- CVE: CVE-2026-49268
- CVSS: 8.8 via CVE.org CNA
- Product: Apache Software Foundation Apache Shiro
- Affected: β€ 2.2.0, 3.0.0-alpha-0
- Impact: : LDAP DN Injection in DefaultLdapRealm
- Status: No confirmed exploitation yet
- Action: Update Apache Shiro to 2.2.1, 3.0.0-alpha-2 or later now
A critical Apache Shiro LDAP Injection vulnerability has recently emerged. Specifically, security researchers identified a severe flaw in the DefaultLdapRealm class. This issue tracks as CVE-2026-49268. Furthermore, it carries a high CVSSv4 score of 8.8. Therefore, administrators must act quickly.
Understanding the Authentication Bypass
Apache Shiro is a popular Java security framework. However, this DefaultLdapRealm vulnerability threatens its core authentication mechanisms. Attackers can inject LDAP special characters into the Distinguished Name (DN) construction. Consequently, user-supplied username input concatenates directly into the LDAP DN template. Unfortunately, the system fails to escape RFC 2253 special characters.
The Risk to Enterprise Applications
This oversight allows attackers to easily manipulate the DN structure. As a result, they can bypass authentication entirely. Moreover, malicious actors might impersonate other legitimate users. The risk spans across many deployments. Specifically, the flaw affects all Apache Shiro versions through 2.2.0. Additionally, it impacts versions 3.0.0-alpha-0 through 3.0.0-alpha-1.
How to Secure Your Framework
You must update your systems to mitigate this Apache Shiro LDAP Injection risk. First, identify if your application utilizes the DefaultLdapRealm. Next, proceed to download Apache Shiro 2.2.1 or 3.0.0-alpha-2 immediately. Consequently, upgrading your framework fixes the issue completely. Always ensure your security dependencies remain current. Finally, proactive patching prevents severe data breaches.
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