CVE-2026-10142
Description
A flaw was found in kafka-python. A malicious broker or a machine-in-the-middle attacker can exploit a denial-of-service vulnerability in the protocol parser. By sending a specially crafted 4-byte frame length value without proper bounds validation, an attacker can trigger excessive memory allocation or cause connections to hang. This can lead to unresponsive requests and consumers failing to heartbeat, resulting in a denial of service.
Statement
A flaw was found in kafka-python. The protocol parser does not validate frame length values, allowing a malicious broker or man-in-the-middle attacker to exhaust memory or hang connections by sending a crafted 4-byte frame length. This can cause multi-gigabyte memory allocation or leave connections in a broken state, causing consumers to stop heartbeating until restart.
Mitigation
Upgrade to kafka-python 2.3.2 or later. As a workaround, ensure Kafka broker connections use TLS with mutual authentication to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.9 | N/A | 7.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation
AC:H — exploitation requires compromised Kafka broker or MITM on TLS-encrypted connections, both non-trivial in RH product deployments.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)
When allocating resources without limits, an attacker could prevent other systems, applications, or processes from accessing the same type of resource. It can be easy for an attacker to consume many resources by rapidly making many requests or causing larger resources to be used than is needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
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