VulnerabilityPublished 25 Feb 2026Updated 26 Feb 2026

CVE-2026-27695: zeroae zae-limiter · Unthrottled Resource Allocation

Affects zeroae zae-limiterSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium : upgrade to 0.10.1 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 18% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 0.10.1

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
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: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
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 25 Feb 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.

What to do

Upgrade zae-limiter and zeroae/zae-limiter to 0.10.1.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
zeroaezae-limiter	Affected <0.10.1	Fixed in 0.10.1
GitHubzeroae/zae-limiter`pkg:github/zeroae/zae-limiter`Other threats	Affected <0.10.1	Fixed in 0.10.1

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

AI-suggested

The most effective mitigation is to upgrade zae-limiter to version 0.10.1 or later, which implements a partition key strategy that distributes rate limit buckets to avoid DynamoDB throughput bottlenecks. Until upgrading is possible, organizations should monitor DynamoDB partition-level metrics closely to detect throttling events and identify high-traffic entities causing excessive load. Implementing additional application-level rate limiting or traffic shaping upstream can reduce the risk of overwhelming partitions. Consider isolating high-traffic entities into separate namespaces or partitions manually if feasible. Review and optimize DynamoDB table capacity settings, including provisioned throughput or on-demand capacity modes, to better handle peak loads. Employ alerting for throttling and latency anomalies to enable rapid response. Finally, conduct load testing to understand traffic patterns and validate that rate limiting configurations do not cause unintended service degradation.

Description

zae-limiter is a rate limiting library using the token bucket algorithm. Prior to version 0.10.1, all rate limit buckets for a single entity share the same DynamoDB partition key (`namespace/ENTITY#{id}`). A high-traffic entity can exceed DynamoDB's per-partition throughput limits (~1,000 WCU/sec), causing throttling that degrades service for that entity — and potentially co-located entities in the same partition. Version 0.10.1 fixes the issue.

Impact

The primary impact of this vulnerability is on service availability. Organizations using zae-limiter versions prior to 0.10.1 may experience degraded performance or denial of service for high-traffic entities due to DynamoDB throttling. This can affect critical applications relying on rate limiting for traffic shaping, API protection, or abuse prevention. The shared partition key design means that not only the high-traffic entity but also other entities sharing the partition can suffer service degradation, potentially amplifying the impact. While confidentiality and integrity are not affected, the availability impact can disrupt business operations, degrade user experience, and increase operational costs due to troubleshooting and mitigation efforts. The vulnerability is exploitable remotely with low privileges and no user interaction, making it accessible to attackers or even legitimate users generating excessive traffic. Organizations with high-volume APIs or services using zae-limiter and DynamoDB are at particular risk. The absence of known exploits suggests limited active targeting but does not eliminate the risk of future exploitation or accidental service outages.

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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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Mar 2026, 19:04 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-770

Technical details

References

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