Summary
AsyncHttpClient: Pooled connections can still be shared across NTLM, Negotiate and proxy logins
Who is Impacted
Applications that authenticate with NTLM, Kerberos or SPNEGO, to an origin or to a proxy, and send requests under different identities, or both with and without credentials, to the same host through one client. The sharpest case is a service that calls an internal host under its own Kerberos identity and also fetches user-supplied URLs: a URL on that host is fetched as the service. Basic and Digest are not affected.
Affected versions
- 3.x: 3.0.13
- 2.x: 2.16.1
Earlier versions are covered by GHSA-vvp4-63h8-v5pm.
Workarounds
Use a separate AsyncHttpClient instance per identity, and do not share one between authenticated and unauthenticated requests to a host that uses NTLM or Negotiate. Disabling connection pooling also removes the reuse.
Incomplete fix of GHSA-vvp4-63h8-v5pm.
Impact
The fix for GHSA-vvp4-63h8-v5pm in 3.0.13 folded the authenticated principal into the HTTP/1.1 connection pool key, so that a connection one principal authenticated with NTLM, Kerberos or SPNEGO is not handed to another. It left three cases out. In each, a socket that one identity authenticated can still be drawn by a request belonging to a different identity, and the server serves that request as the first one.
- A login with no configured principal. Kerberos and SPNEGO against the ticket cache or the default JAAS login, which is the usual deployment, leave the realm's principal unset, and the key stayed unscoped in that case. A request to the same host that carries no credentials at all draws the authenticated socket and is served as the service identity.
- The proxy realm. Only the origin realm went into the key. A connection authenticated to a proxy with NTLM or Negotiate is handed to requests of another proxy identity, or of none, and the proxy acts for them as the first identity.
- Identities that share a user name. Only the principal string went into the key, so
CORP\aliceandOTHER\aliceshared connections, as did two realms differing only in password, login context, keytab or service principal. The Kerberos login cache inSpnegoEnginehad the same collision, and it was an unsynchronised map, so concurrent first use could hand one caller's login to another.
The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions. Typical impact: unauthorized data access or execution of privileged operations.
CVE-2026-107230 has a CVSS score of 7.4 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (3.0.14); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Fixed in 3.0.14. The pool key now carries a digest of every field of the realm that decides which identity the connection ends up as, for the origin and the proxy separately, and a realm that authenticates the connection is scoped whether or not it names a principal. SpnegoEngine caches logins in a concurrent map keyed by every other field of that identity, and replaces a cached login when the password changes.
The 2.x line is end of life and will not receive a fix. Upgrade to 3.0.14.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-107230? CVE-2026-107230 is a high-severity incorrect authorization vulnerability in org.asynchttpclient:async-http-client (maven), affecting versions >= 3.0.0, < 3.0.14. It is fixed in 3.0.14. The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions.
- How severe is CVE-2026-107230? CVE-2026-107230 has a CVSS score of 7.4 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of org.asynchttpclient:async-http-client are affected by CVE-2026-107230? org.asynchttpclient:async-http-client (maven) versions >= 3.0.0, < 3.0.14 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-107230? Yes. CVE-2026-107230 is fixed in 3.0.14. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-107230 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-107230 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-107230 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-107230? Upgrade
org.asynchttpclient:async-http-clientto 3.0.14 or later.