ZEBRA: Unbounded memory leak in mempool download pipeline via timeout path cancel_handles retention
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-52734 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | GitHub_M |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-08-18 20:17:17 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-08-19 19:17:18 UTC |
| Description | ZEBRA is a Zcash node written entirely in Rust. Prior to 4.5.0, an unauthenticated P2P peer can cause the mempool download pipeline to retain transactions after verification reaches the outer RATE_LIMIT_DELAY timeout. In zebrad/src/components/mempool/downloads.rs, Downloads::poll_next removed cancel_handles entries after success and ordinary verification errors, but tokio::time::error::Elapsed did not carry the UnminedTxId needed to remove the timed-out entry. Each retained cancel_handles entry could hold a full Gossip::Tx(UnminedTx), while normal mined-transaction cleanup could not match attacker transactions and no periodic garbage collection or count cap existed. Sustained traffic therefore caused monotonic memory growth until swap pressure degraded the node or the operating system terminated the zebrad process for exhausting memory. This issue is fixed in version 4.5.0. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 5.3 MEDIUM from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
EPSS: 0.003710000 probability, percentile 0.304560000 (date 2026-08-20)
Problem Types: CWE-401 | CWE-401 CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 5.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L |
| 3.1 | CNA | DECLARED | 5.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
LowCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | ZcashFoundation | Zebra | affected < 4.5.0 | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/commit/1440b43ca7df59aca948090d45117557... | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/releases/tag/v4.5.0 | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/security/advisories/GHSA-65jj-fmw8-468q | [email protected] | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.