CVE-2026-118259

opentelemetry-java: Quadratic CPU consumption in W3C tracestate parsing

Published Oct 28, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 5.3 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
opentelemetry-java is the Java implementation of the OpenTelemetry API for recording telemetry, and SDK for managing telemetry recorded by the API. Prior to 1.67.0, W3CTraceContextPropagator.extract() uses regex delimiter processing that can exhibit quadratic backtracking while parsing tracestate headers containing long runs of spaces or tabs without a following comma. An unauthenticated attacker whose headers reach extraction can repeatedly block request or event-loop threads and cause excessive CPU consumption, with practical impact bounded by ingress header-size limits, proxy configuration, and threading. This issue is fixed in version 1.67.0.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-ccrj-gw8r-854m opentelemetry-java: Quadratic CPU consumption in W3C tracestate parsing
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Opentelemetry
Opentelemetry opentelemetry-java
Vendors & Products Opentelemetry
Opentelemetry opentelemetry-java
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description opentelemetry-java is the Java implementation of the OpenTelemetry API for recording telemetry, and SDK for managing telemetry recorded by the API. Prior to 1.67.0, W3CTraceContextPropagator.extract() uses regex delimiter processing that can exhibit quadratic backtracking while parsing tracestate headers containing long runs of spaces or tabs without a following comma. An unauthenticated attacker whose headers reach extraction can repeatedly block request or event-loop threads and cause excessive CPU consumption, with practical impact bounded by ingress header-size limits, proxy configuration, and threading. This issue is fixed in version 1.67.0.
Title opentelemetry-java: Quadratic CPU consumption in W3C tracestate parsing
Weaknesses CWE-1333
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
Nov 2, 2026, 8:30 PM
Reserved
Oct 27, 2026, 8:13 PM
Status
Awaiting Analysis
Published
Oct 28, 2026, 7:17 PM
Modified
Nov 2, 2026, 9:17 PM