VulnerabilityPublished 21 Jul 2026Updated 1 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-59848: Unthrottled Resource Allocation

Source GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-59848· Medium 5.3

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 27% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 21 Jul 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-4h4r-q9xg-gfmm

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10libssh	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8libssh	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8libssh	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9libssh	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9libssh	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Hardened Imageslibssh-main	Affected–	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Red Hat advises not to connect to untrusted SFTP servers to avoid exploitation. Additionally, applying the updated libssh packages provided by Red Hat (libssh-0.12.1-4.hum1) mitigates the vulnerability. Users should update to these fixed versions as soon as possible.

Description

A vulnerability in libssh allows a malicious SFTP server to send responses with unknown request IDs that libssh clients queue indefinitely, leading to unbounded memory growth and client-side denial of service. This flaw is identified as CVE-2026-59848 and has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (medium severity). The issue affects libssh clients that interact with untrusted SFTP servers. Red Hat has released an update for libssh in their Hardened Images RPMs to address this vulnerability.

Impact

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker controlling an SFTP server to cause unbounded memory growth on a libssh client by sending responses with unknown request IDs, leading to client-side denial of service. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity, only availability is affected with a low impact rating.

Summary

CVE-2026-59848 is a denial of service vulnerability in libssh where a malicious SFTP server can send responses for unknown request IDs. The libssh client keeps these responses queued indefinitely, causing unbounded memory consumption and resulting in a client-side denial of service. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling). Red Hat has issued a security advisory and released updated libssh packages (version 0.12.1-4.hum1) to mitigate this issue.

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #25
The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.
Requirements
Clearly specify the minimum and maximum expectations for capabilities, and dictate which behaviors are acceptable when resource allocation reaches limits.
Architecture and Design
Limit the amount of resources that are accessible to unprivileged users. Set per-user limits for resources. Allow the system administrator to define these limits. Be careful to avoid CWE-410.
Architecture and Design
Design throttling mechanisms into the system architecture. The best protection is to limit the amount of resources that an unauthorized user can cause to be expended.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.1 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
XML Ping of the Death (opens in a new tab)
Exponential Data Expansion (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data Parameter Blowup (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data with Nested Payloads (opens in a new tab)
Oversized Serialized Data Payloads (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 13 Sep 2026, 20:05 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-770

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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