CVE-2026-40898 | quic-go: HTTP/3 QPACK Trailer Expansion Memory Exhaustion

quic-go is an implementation of the QUIC protocol in Go. Prior to version 0.59.1, an attacker can cause excessive memory allocation in quic-go's HTTP/3 client and server implementations by sending a QPACK-encoded HEADERS frame that decodes into a large trailer field section with many unique field names and/or large values. The implementation builds an `http.Header` for the corresponding `http.Request` or `http.Response`, while only enforcing limits on the size of the QPACK-compressed HEADERS frame, not on the decoded field section. This can lead to memory exhaustion. This is very similar to CVE-2025-64702. The difference is that this issue uses HTTP trailers, rather than HTTP headers, as the attack vector. A misbehaving or malicious peer can cause a denial-of-service (DoS) attack against quic-go's HTTP/3 servers or clients by triggering excessive memory allocation, potentially leading to crashes or resource exhaustion. This affects both servers and clients due to symmetric header construction. Version 0.59.1 enforces RFC 9114 decoded field section size limits for trailers as well. It incrementally decodes QPACK entries and checks the field section size after each entry, aborting the stream if an entry causes the limit to be exceeded.

Published: 2026-06-04 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-40898 is rated Low Risk (27.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.28%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-40898

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-23 0.49% 0.28% -0.21%
2 2026-06-15 0.06% 0.49% +0.43%
3 2026-06-10 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-40898

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-40898

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-40898

GHSA-vvgj-x9jq-8cj9 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — quic-go: HTTP/3 QPACK Trailer Expansion Memory Exhaustion

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-40898

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-40898 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (golang-github-lucas-clemente-quic-go), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-40898
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-40898 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (golang-github-lucas-clemente-quic-go), 5 status rows across 5 suites (jammy, noble, questing, resolute, upstream): needs-triage 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-40898

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-40898

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
quic-go_project quic-go < 0.59.1 cpe:2.3:a:quic-go_project:quic-go:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-40898

cvelogic Threat Intelligence