CVE-2026-52734

ZEBRA: Unbounded memory leak in mempool download pipeline via timeout path cancel_handles retention

Published Aug 18, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 5.3 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
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.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-65jj-fmw8-468q zebrad has unbounded memory leak in mempool download pipeline via timeout path cancel_handles retention
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 Zcashfoundation
Zcashfoundation zebra
Vendors & Products Zcashfoundation
Zcashfoundation zebra
Type Values Removed Values Added
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.
Title ZEBRA: Unbounded memory leak in mempool download pipeline via timeout path cancel_handles retention
Weaknesses CWE-401
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
Aug 19, 2026, 6:20 PM
Reserved
Jun 8, 2026, 2:00 PM
Status
Deferred
Published
Aug 18, 2026, 8:17 PM
Modified
Oct 22, 2026, 10:10 PM