quiche: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
CVE-2026-12707 is a high-severity allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability in quiche from Cloudflare, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists version 0.29.3 as the first without the flaw, so updating quiche to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.44% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update quiche to 0.29.3 or a later version.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | quiche | 0.15.0 up to, but not including, 0.29.3 | 0.29.3 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- NoneNo data is disclosed.
- Integrity
- NoneNothing can be modified.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. Scored by CNA (cloudflare.com).
Official description
Summary Cloudflare quiche was discovered to be vulnerable to memory resource exhaustion due to unbounded queuing of post-handshake client migration events. Impact quiche supports the connection migration features described in Section 9 of RFC 9000, which allows a single QUIC connection to survive changes in the network path. Although quiche implements the protections described in Section 9.3 of RFC 9000 to limit server state commitment, it was discovered that the collection of PathEvents, intended to be consumed by applications via the path_event_next() function, was not bounded. Once the QUIC handshake completed, a peer could exploit rapid source address migration in order to cause unbounded queuing of the PathEvent::ReusedSourceConnectionId type. Servers are vulnerable even if active connection migration is disabled. Mitigation: * Applications can call path_event_next() to drain the PathEvent collection, mitigating the attack. * Users are requested to upgrade to quiche 0.29.3 which is the earliest version that prevents excessive queueing of PathEvent::ReusedSourceConnectionId.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Clearly specify the minimum and maximum expectations for capabilities, and dictate which behaviors are acceptable when resource allocation reaches limits.
- Limit the amount of resources that are accessible to unprivileged users. Set per-user limits for resources. Allow the system administrator to define these limits. Be careful to avoid CWE-410.
- For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
More Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerabilities (CWE-770)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other vulnerabilities in quiche
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
Recent Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerabilities
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 7.4 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
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