Apache PLC4X, Apache PLC4X: Pre-authentication resource exhaustion in the OPC UA driver and the Java SPI parser

Summary

CVECVE-2026-102509
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerapache
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-09-30 09:17:14 UTC
Updated2026-09-30 16:14:10 UTC
DescriptionMemory Allocation with Excessive Size Value, Allocation of Resources Without Limits, and Uncontrolled Recursion in the Java implementation of Apache PLC4X (PLC4J) allow a malicious or impersonated device to exhaust the memory or stack of the client application, causing a denial of service. In the OPC UA driver these defects are reachable before authentication: the offending data is parsed while the secure channel and session are being established, before the server's identity has been bound to it. Configuring a trusted server therefore does not prevent exploitation by an attacker who can impersonate it. The individual defects are: - Length-prefixed byte strings are allocated at the size claimed on the wire before the length is checked against the data actually received (0.10.0 through 0.13.1). - Array fields in generated protocol parsers pre-allocate a list with the element count claimed on the wire, allowing a single count field to trigger a multi-gigabyte allocation. This parser is shared by all PLC4J drivers; the OPC UA driver is the verified pre-authentication path (0.10.0 through 0.13.1). - The OPC UA driver accumulates message chunks without enforcing the negotiated maximum chunk count and message size (0.12.0 through 0.13.1). - The OPC UA driver pre-allocates collections using element counts received from the server (0.10.0 through 0.13.1). - Recursive protocol types are parsed without a nesting-depth limit. The same defect in the Go implementation is covered by CVE-2026-102510 https://cveprocess.apache.org/cve5/CVE-2026-102510 . This issue affects Apache PLC4X: from 0.10.0 before 1.0.0. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 1.0.0, which fixes the issue.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 8.7 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Problem Types: CWE-674 | CWE-770 | CWE-789 | CWE-789 CWE-789 Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value. This covers the byte strings (F2), the array counts (F4) and the element counts (f024). | CWE-770 CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. This covers the chunk accumulation (F3). | CWE-674 CWE-674 Uncontrolled Recursion. This covers the nested mspec types (f045).


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary8.7HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C...
4.0CNACVSS8.7HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache PLC4X affected 0.10.0 1.0.0 semver Not specified
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache PLC4X unaffected 1.0.0 semver Not specified
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache PLC4X affected 0.10.0 1.0.0 semver Not specified
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache PLC4X unaffected 1.0.0 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
lists.apache.org/thread.html/qngc85qhnlj7kpk3z58z0xlxhz2tn6gp [email protected] lists.apache.org
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: Abhinav Agarwal (en)

Additional Advisory Data

SourceTimeEvent
CNA2026-07-09T12:11:00.000Zreported to the Apache Security Team
CNA2026-07-10T12:11:00.000Zreported issues fixed on develop (a2dbb6bfc0, 5a4d5bdb4c)
CNA2026-09-07T12:12:00.000ZApache PLC4X 1.0.0 released with the fixes

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