CVE-2026-81872: CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in open-telemetry opentelemetry-go
OpenTelemetry-Go is the Go implementation of OpenTelemetry. Prior to version 0.21.0, the go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk/log BatchingProcessor can enter a tight CPU loop when attacker-driven log emission fills its asynchronous export buffer while the exporter is backpressured. NewBatchingProcessor wraps the exporter with newBufferExporter(exporter, 1), and the poll loop calls queue.TryDequeue and bufferExporter.EnqueueExport before immediately signaling pollTrigger whenever the queue remains at or above batchSize. Because a failed nonblocking EnqueueExport leaves the queue length unchanged, the processor repeatedly retries without waiting for its ticker, exhausting CPU and degrading or denying service in the embedding process. This issue is fixed in version 0.21.0.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
OpenTelemetry-Go's BatchingProcessor in versions before 0.21.0 can enter a tight CPU loop due to uncontrolled resource consumption. When the asynchronous export buffer fills up because of attacker-driven log emission and the exporter is backpressured, the processor repeatedly retries enqueue operations without waiting, causing CPU exhaustion. This is caused by the nonblocking EnqueueExport failing without reducing the queue length, triggering immediate retries. The vulnerability is addressed by changes introduced in version 0.21.0.
Potential Impact
An attacker can cause the BatchingProcessor to consume excessive CPU resources by flooding the log export buffer, leading to degraded performance or denial of service in the application embedding the vulnerable OpenTelemetry-Go SDK. There is no indication of privilege escalation or data compromise from this vulnerability.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade to OpenTelemetry-Go version 0.21.0 or later, where this issue is fixed. No other mitigations are indicated or necessary as the fix is available.
CVE-2026-81872: CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in open-telemetry opentelemetry-go
Description
OpenTelemetry-Go is the Go implementation of OpenTelemetry. Prior to version 0.21.0, the go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk/log BatchingProcessor can enter a tight CPU loop when attacker-driven log emission fills its asynchronous export buffer while the exporter is backpressured. NewBatchingProcessor wraps the exporter with newBufferExporter(exporter, 1), and the poll loop calls queue.TryDequeue and bufferExporter.EnqueueExport before immediately signaling pollTrigger whenever the queue remains at or above batchSize. Because a failed nonblocking EnqueueExport leaves the queue length unchanged, the processor repeatedly retries without waiting for its ticker, exhausting CPU and degrading or denying service in the embedding process. This issue is fixed in version 0.21.0.
CVSS v4.0
Score 6.3medium
Affected software
open-telemetry
opentelemetry-go
pkg:golang/github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/sdk/logRun on your own infrastructure? Check whether these packages are installed with threat-finder — our free open-source scanner.
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
OpenTelemetry-Go's BatchingProcessor in versions before 0.21.0 can enter a tight CPU loop due to uncontrolled resource consumption. When the asynchronous export buffer fills up because of attacker-driven log emission and the exporter is backpressured, the processor repeatedly retries enqueue operations without waiting, causing CPU exhaustion. This is caused by the nonblocking EnqueueExport failing without reducing the queue length, triggering immediate retries. The vulnerability is addressed by changes introduced in version 0.21.0.
Potential Impact
An attacker can cause the BatchingProcessor to consume excessive CPU resources by flooding the log export buffer, leading to degraded performance or denial of service in the application embedding the vulnerable OpenTelemetry-Go SDK. There is no indication of privilege escalation or data compromise from this vulnerability.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade to OpenTelemetry-Go version 0.21.0 or later, where this issue is fixed. No other mitigations are indicated or necessary as the fix is available.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- GitHub_M
- Date Reserved
- 2026-08-27T17:48:42.121Z
- Cvss Version
- 4.0
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 6aab005e55bf5e2cf5231de7
Added to database: 09/16/2026, 20:47:26 UTC
Last enriched: 09/16/2026, 22:02:27 UTC
Last updated: 09/17/2026, 03:20:29 UTC
Views: 5
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