VulnerabilityPublished 28 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-101917: jpadilla pyjwt · Unthrottled Resource Allocation

Affects jpadilla pyjwtSource CVE Database V5

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Mentioned vulnerabilities

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 2.14.0 when convenient.

Data as of 12 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 37% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.14.0

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 28 Sep 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 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

Upgrade jpadilla pyjwt to 2.14.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
jpadillapyjwt	Affected <2.14.0	Fixed in 2.14.0
PyPIpyjwt`pkg:pypi/pyjwt`Other threats	Affected <2.14.0	Fixed in 2.14.0

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix is available in pyjwt version 2.14.0, which introduces a 30-second cooldown on forced JWKS refreshes for unknown 'kid' values and serializes concurrent refreshes. Users should upgrade to pyjwt 2.14.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Until upgrading, no effective workaround exists as the vulnerability stems from the library's JWKS refresh logic. The vendor advisory confirms the fix and recommends upgrading.

Description

setup.py test %endif Security Fix(es): PyJWT is a Python implementation of JSON Web Token standards. Prior to 2.14.0, PyJWT get_signing_key_from_jwt is affected because unknown kid misses force refreshes without a negative cache or minimum refresh interval. This occurs when unauthenticated tokens repeatedly use the same unknown kid or varying kid values absent from the cached JWKS. As a result, each cache miss causes PyJWKClient to refresh the JWKS. Consequently, attacker traffic can amplify outbound requests to the configured JWKS endpoint. This issue is fixed in version 2.14.0.(CVE-2026-101917) PyJWT is a Python implementation of JSON Web Token standards. From 2.0.0a1 until 2.15.0, PyJWT PyJWKClient.get_signing_key_from_jwt is affected because payload parser catches ValueError but not RecursionError. This occurs when an attacker-controlled recursively nested payload reaches json.loads. As a result, documented PyJWT exception handling does not contain the failure. Consequently, an unauthenticated request can raise an exception that may produce an HTTP 500 response. The advisory-defined affected implementation also includes jwt/api_jwt.py, verify_signature=False. This issue is fixed in version 2.15.0.(CVE-2026-101918) PyJWT is a Python implementation of JSON Web Token standards. From 2.13.0 until 2.14.0, PyJWS._load in jwt/api_jws.py is affected because parser catches ValueError but not RecursionError. This occurs when a deeply nested token header reaches json.loads. As a result, RecursionError escapes the documented PyJWT error hierarchy. Consequently, an unauthenticated malformed token can cause a request-level failure and HTTP 500. This issue is fixed in version 2.14.0.(CVE-2026-102265) PyJWT is a Python implementation of JSON Web Token standards. Prior to 2.14.0, PyJWT signature segment is affected because signature segment decoding accepts characters outside the canonical Base64URL representation. This occurs when non-Base64URL characters are appended to a valid compact JWS signature segment. As a result, base64url_decode produces the same signature bytes for different serialized segments. Consequently, raw-token revocation checks can fail to recognize an equivalent modified token. This issue is fixed in version 2.14.0.(CVE-2026-102269) PyJWT is a Python implementation of JSON Web Token standards. From 2.1.0 until 2.15.0, PyJWT OKPAlgorithm.from_jwk in jwt/algorithms.py is affected because private-JWK import path does not compare the public key derived from d with x. This occurs when an OKP private JWK supplies non-corresponding x and d components. As a result, identity derived from x can differ from operations performed with d. Consequently, if an integration also accepts private key parameters from a proof header without rejecting them, an attacker may use a stolen sender-constrained token without the legitimate private key. This issue is fixed in version 2.15.0.(CVE-2026-102275)

Impact

An unauthenticated attacker can cause the victim server to perform repeated outbound JWKS fetches and JSON parsing by sending tokens with attacker-controlled unknown 'kid' values. This results in resource exhaustion (CPU, sockets) on the victim, potentially causing denial of service and authentication outages. The attack amplifies requests from attacker to victim to the JWKS provider, which may also hit rate limits, further impacting availability. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity, only availability.

Summary

The vulnerability in pyjwt (CVE-2026-101917) involves the PyJWKClient component unconditionally forcing a JWKS refresh on any unknown 'kid' value found in an unauthenticated token header. Prior to version 2.14.0, this caused repeated outbound JWKS HTTP fetches and JSON parsing on the victim server for each unknown or repeated unknown 'kid', as there was no rate limiting, negative caching, or minimum refresh interval. This leads to a denial-of-service condition by exhausting CPU and network resources and potentially triggering rate limits on the JWKS provider. The maintainer confirmed the issue and implemented a fix on the master branch, which was released in pyjwt 2.14.0. The fix adds a 30-second cooldown between forced JWKS refreshes for unknown kids, serializes concurrent refreshes, and allows configuration of the cooldown. Cache-disabled behavior and immediate retries after failed fetches remain unchanged.

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).

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What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 17 Oct 2026, 22:48 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-770

Technical details

References

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