Method com.sun.syndication.fetcher.impl.HttpURLFeedFetcher.retrieveFeed(URL) uses URLConnection to establish a connection to the feedUrl. Since connection can hang it is necessary to either set timeout to reasonable default values or to make it configurable. Both java.net.URLConnection.setConnectTimeout(int) and info.magnolia.module.exchangesimple.BaseSyndicatorImpl.prepareConnection(Subscriber, String).urlConnection should be made configurable for feed fetcher to avoid hanging calls.