VulnerabilityPublished 28 Sep 2026Updated 1 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-101003: Cesanta Mongoose · Stack-based Buffer Overflow

Affects Cesanta MongooseSource CVE Database V5

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Public exploit available · CVSS 6.9 Medium.

Data as of 12 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

6.9Medium

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 40% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P

Base metrics

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: Low
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Threat metrics

Exploit Maturity: POC

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, 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: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system 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 Vulnerable System 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 Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Exploit Maturity: POC: Based on threat intelligence sources each of the following must apply: · Proof-of-concept is publicly available · No knowledge of reported attempts to exploit this vulnerability · No knowledge of publicly available solutions used to simplify attempts to exploit the vulnerability

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 28 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: evidence found.
CVSS exploit maturity: proof of concept public
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), CVSS vector, the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 13 Nov 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.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
CesantaMongoose	Affected 7.0 – 7.21 22 affected builds	Fixed in–
GitHubcesanta/mongoose`pkg:github/cesanta/mongoose`Other threats	Affected 7.0 – 7.21 22 affected builds	Fixed in–

CPE configurations (1)

cpe:2.3:a:cesanta:mongoose:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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AI-suggested

Upgrade Cesanta Mongoose to version 7.22 or later, which contains the official fix for this vulnerability. Applying this update fully mitigates the risk. No other mitigations are indicated by the vendor.

Description

CVE-2026-101003 is a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Cesanta Mongoose versions 7.0 through 7.21. It affects the MQTT Broker component, specifically the function 'fn' in the file tutorials/mqtt/mqtt-server/main.c. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication or user interaction. A public exploit is available. Upgrading to version 7.22 resolves this issue.

Impact

The vulnerability allows remote attackers to trigger a stack-based buffer overflow in the MQTT Broker component without requiring privileges or user interaction. This can lead to potential code execution or service disruption. Although an exploit is publicly available, there are no confirmed reports of exploitation in the wild.

Summary

This vulnerability is a stack-based buffer overflow in the MQTT Broker component of Cesanta Mongoose, affecting the function 'fn' in tutorials/mqtt/mqtt-server/main.c. It is present in all versions from 7.0 up to and including 7.21. The flaw allows remote attackers to cause a buffer overflow, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service. The vulnerability has a CVSS 4.0 base score of 6.9, indicating medium severity. A patch identified by commit a9df523f76f43a38bd53b4232b9cfd4c16869e71 is included in version 7.22, which fixes the issue.

References

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