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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-27572: bytecodealliance wasmtime · Unthrottled Resource Allocation

Affects bytecodealliance wasmtimeSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.9 Medium · fixed in 41.0.4 : update bytecodealliance wasmtime when convenient.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
6.9Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 44% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 41.0.4, 40.0.4, 36.0.6 +1
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 24 Feb 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Upgrade wasmtime to 41.0.4, 40.0.4, 36.0.6 or 24.0.6; bytecodealliance/wasmtime to 24.0.6.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
bytecodealliancewasmtimeAffected
  • >=41.0.0 <41.0.4
Fixed in
  • 41.0.4
bytecodealliancewasmtimeAffected
  • >=37.0.0 <40.0.4
Fixed in
  • 40.0.4
bytecodealliancewasmtimeAffected
  • >=25.0.0 <36.0.6
Fixed in
  • 36.0.6
bytecodealliancewasmtimeAffected
  • <24.0.6
Fixed in
  • 24.0.6
crates.iobytecodealliance/wasmtimepkg:cargo/bytecodealliance/wasmtimeOther threatsAffected
  • <24.0.6
Fixed in
  • 24.0.6

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

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-27572, organizations should promptly update Wasmtime to one of the patched versions: 24.0.6, 36.0.6, 40.0.4, 41.0.4, or later releases. This update replaces the panic with a controlled trap, preventing runtime crashes. Embedders should audit their use of Wasmtime, especially where untrusted input is processed via WASI HTTP interfaces, and ensure that input validation or rate limiting is applied to HTTP header fields before passing them to Wasmtime. Implementing application-level throttling or limits on the number of HTTP headers accepted can reduce the risk of triggering resource exhaustion. Monitoring Wasmtime logs and application health metrics for unexpected panics or crashes can help detect exploitation attempts. Additionally, consider isolating Wasmtime execution environments to limit the blast radius of potential DoS attacks. Since no workarounds exist, patching remains the most effective defense. Finally, maintain awareness of Wasmtime updates and security advisories to respond quickly to future vulnerabilities.

Description

Wasmtime is a runtime for WebAssembly. Prior to versions 24.0.6, 36.0.6, 4.0.04, 41.0.4, and 42.0.0, Wasmtime's implementation of the `wasi:http/types.fields` resource is susceptible to panics when too many fields are added to the set of headers. Wasmtime's implementation in the `wasmtime-wasi-http` crate is backed by a data structure which panics when it reaches excessive capacity and this condition was not handled gracefully in Wasmtime. Panicking in a WASI implementation is a Denial of Service vector for embedders and is treated as a security vulnerability in Wasmtime. Wasmtime 24.0.6, 36.0.6, 40.0.4, 41.0.4, and 42.0.0 patch this vulnerability and return a trap to the guest instead of panicking. There are no known workarounds at this time. Embedders are encouraged to update to a patched version of Wasmtime.

References

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