VulnerabilityPublished 14 Sep 2026Updated 15 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-90698: memcached · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects memcachedSource CVE Database V5

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Public exploit available · CVSS 6.9 Medium.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 10:37 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

6.9Medium

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

EPSS: 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 58% 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 14 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 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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
memcached	Affected =1.6.41 =1.6.42 =1.6.43	Fixed in–
GitHubmemcached/memcached`pkg:github/memcached/memcached`Other threats	Affected =1.6.41 =1.6.42 =1.6.43	Fixed in–

CPE configurations (1)

cpe:2.3:a:memcached:memcached:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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AI-suggested

Upgrade memcached to version 1.6.44 or later, which contains the official fix for this vulnerability. Applying this update fully mitigates the risk. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor advisory.

Description

memcached is a high-performance, distributed memory object caching system, generic in nature, but intended for use in speeding up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load. Security Fix(es): A security flaw has been discovered in memcached 1.6.41/1.6.42/1.6.43. This vulnerability affects the function try_read_command_asciiauth of the file proto_text.c of the component mcmc Tokenizer. The manipulation results in out-of-bounds read. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploit has been released to the public and may be used for attacks. Upgrading to version 1.6.44 is able to resolve this issue. The patch is identified as af05c9302bba508b736c3da1d5670f63fe8b7db4. You should upgrade the affected component.(CVE-2026-90698)

Impact

The vulnerability enables remote attackers to cause out-of-bounds reads in memcached, which may lead to information disclosure or application crashes. The CVSS 4.0 score is 6.9 (medium severity), reflecting the network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges or user interaction required, and limited impact on confidentiality. No known active exploitation in the wild has been reported yet.

Summary

This vulnerability in memcached affects the try_read_command_asciiauth function in proto_text.c, causing an out-of-bounds read condition. The flaw allows remote attackers to read memory outside intended bounds, potentially leading to information disclosure or application instability. The issue is present in memcached versions 1.6.41, 1.6.42, and 1.6.43. A patch identified by commit af05c9302bba508b736c3da1d5670f63fe8b7db4 was released in version 1.6.44 to fix this vulnerability. Exploit code has been publicly released, increasing the risk of attacks.

References

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