CVE-2026-111496
Kafka Streams derives its stream-time clock from record timestamps. PunctuationSchedule.next() computed the next punctuation time as timestamp + (intervalsMissed + 1) * interval with no overflow check. A record with a timestamp at or near Long.MAX_VALUE advances stream time to that value, so the next stream-time punctuation overflows to a negative time. PunctuationQueue then re-queues that time and loops on it indefinitely while holding a lock, stalling the StreamThread. Impact: A single record is enough. The affected StreamThread stops processing, and because the record stays in the topic the hang returns on restart; an application whose partitions are all affected becomes unresponsive. Only the Streams application is affected, not the brokers or the cluster. Triggering it needs write access to a source topic whose topology uses stream-time punctuation, and a broker that stores the record: brokers from Apache Kafka 4.0.0 reject such a timestamp by default (log.message.timestamp.after.max.ms, one hour), so it is reachable only on older brokers or where that bound has been relaxed. Mitigation: Upgrade Kafka Streams to 4.2.2, 4.3.2, or 4.4.0. As defense in depth, keep log.message.timestamp.after.max.ms bounded on source topics and restrict write access to them. Resolution: From Apache Kafka 4.2.2, 4.3.2, and 4.4.0: the next punctuation time is computed with overflow-checked arithmetic (clamped to Long.MAX_VALUE), and a rescheduled punctuation is re-queued only when its time moves forward.
- Score
- –
- Published
- 2026-10-28
- Links
- NVD · cve.org · Report wrong data
Matched ports (1)
| Port | Package | Version | Status | Maintainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| net/kafka | kafka | 4.3.1 | unaddressed | timp87@gmail.com |
Template for a VuXML entry
Package names, ranges and the XML itself can be wrong. Always check the content before you commit it, and run make validate in security/vuxml. The generator is being rewritten from scratch.
Range per package from the CVE record, for ports with a version line in their name (python312) only from that line. make newentry in security/vuxml creates the vid.
<vuln vid="FIXME (make newentry)">
<topic>FIXME -- FIXME</topic>
<affects>
<package>
<name>kafka</name>
<!-- no fixed version in the CVE record -->
<range><lt>FIXME</lt></range>
</package>
</affects>
<description>
<body xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<p>Kafka Streams derives its stream-time clock from record timestamps.
PunctuationSchedule.next() computed the next punctuation time as
timestamp + (intervalsMissed + 1) * interval with no overflow check. A
record with a timestamp at or near Long.MAX_VALUE advances stream time
to that value, so the next stream-time punctuation overflows to a
negative time. PunctuationQueue then re-queues that time and loops on
it indefinitely while holding a lock, stalling the StreamThread.</p>
<p>Impact:</p>
<p>A single record is enough. The affected StreamThread stops processing,
and because the record stays in the topic the hang returns on restart;
an application whose partitions are all affected becomes unresponsive.
Only the Streams application is affected, not the brokers or the
cluster. Triggering it needs write access to a source topic whose
topology uses stream-time punctuation, and a broker that stores the
record: brokers from Apache Kafka 4.0.0 reject such a timestamp by
default (log.message.timestamp.after.max.ms, one hour), so it is
reachable only on older brokers or where that bound has been relaxed.</p>
<p>Mitigation:</p>
<p>Upgrade Kafka Streams to 4.2.2, 4.3.2, or 4.4.0. As defense in depth,
keep log.message.timestamp.after.max.ms bounded on source topics and
restrict write access to them.</p>
<p>Resolution:</p>
<p>From Apache Kafka 4.2.2, 4.3.2, and 4.4.0: the next punctuation time
is computed with overflow-checked arithmetic (clamped to
Long.MAX_VALUE), and a rescheduled punctuation is re-queued only when
its time moves forward.</p>
</body>
</description>
<references>
<cvename>CVE-2026-111496</cvename>
<url>https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-111496</url>
</references>
<dates>
<discovery>2026-10-28</discovery>
<entry>2026-10-28</entry>
</dates>
</vuln>