hpack: Unbounded variable integer decoding can cause run-away computation on malformed input
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-59980 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | GitHub_M |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-09-23 23:17:11 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-09-30 17:32:07 UTC |
| Description | hpack is an HTTP/2 Header Encoding for Python. Prior to version 4.2.0, unbounded variable integer decoding can cause run-away computation on malformed input leading to O(n^2) runtime, effectively blocking further processing with large enough unsanitized input. A fix is available in python-hyper/hpack v4.2.0 to restricted variable integer decoding to uint32 to prevent run-away computation. As a workaround, sanitize input to hpack decoder for long sequences of `0xFF` values to prevent malicious use. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 6.3 MEDIUM from [email protected]
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/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
EPSS: 0.003010000 probability, percentile 0.205350000 (date 2026-09-29)
Problem Types: CWE-400 | CWE-400 CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | [email protected] | Secondary | 6.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | DECLARED | 6.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowAttack Requirements
PresentPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
LowSub Conf.
NoneSub Integrity
NoneSub Availability
NoneCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/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
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Python-hyper | Hpack | affected < 4.2.0 | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/python-hyper/hpack/commit/8cfb02c547740e16dbfe7aba77bad84b297... | [email protected] | github.com | |
| docs.rs/http2/0.5.19/src/http2/hpack/decoder.rs.html | [email protected] | docs.rs | |
| cs.opensource.google/go/x/net/+/master:http2/hpack/hpack.go;l=468;drc=8e2b117aee74... | [email protected] | cs.opensource.google | |
| github.com/python-hyper/hpack/security/advisories/GHSA-8v8h-hg4w-mvq2 | [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.