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Medium

opentelemetry-java: Quadratic CPU consumption in W3C tracestate parsing

Type: advisorySources: Official CVE List

opentelemetry-java is the Java implementation of the OpenTelemetry API for recording telemetry, and SDK for managing telemetry recorded by the API. Prior to 1.67.0, W3CTraceContextPropagator.extract() uses regex delimiter processing that can exhibit quadratic backtracking while parsing tracestate headers containing long runs of spaces or tabs without a following comma. An unauthenticated attacker whose headers reach extraction can repeatedly block request or event-loop threads and cause excessive CPU consumption, with practical impact bounded by ingress header-size limits, proxy configuration, and threading. This issue is fixed in version 1.67.0.

Products
opentelemetry-java
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
Not specified
CVEs
CVE-2026-118259
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
2 Nov 2026, 02:37 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

opentelemetry-java: Quadratic CPU consumption in W3C tracestate parsing

core-cve · Original source

Published 28 Oct 2026, 18:53 UTC

opentelemetry-java is the Java implementation of the OpenTelemetry API for recording telemetry, and SDK for managing telemetry recorded by the API. Prior to 1.67.0, W3CTraceContextPropagator.extract() uses regex delimiter processing that can exhibit quadratic backtracking while parsing tracestate headers containing long runs of spaces or tabs without a following comma. An unauthenticated attacker whose headers reach extraction can repeatedly block request or event-loop threads and cause excessive CPU consumption, with practical impact bounded by ingress header-size limits, proxy configuration, and threading. This issue is fixed in version 1.67.0.

cve:CVE-2026-118259

opentelemetry-java

Fixed versions: Not specified

Complete source record
{
  "id": "da396672aa3faddda56dbe545cc55b53f0716887e09b5ed543d8b0b378a29d25",
  "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-118259",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "opentelemetry-java: Quadratic CPU consumption in W3C tracestate parsing",
    "summary": "opentelemetry-java is the Java implementation of the OpenTelemetry API for recording telemetry, and SDK for managing telemetry recorded by the API. Prior to 1.67.0, W3CTraceContextPropagator.extract() uses regex delimiter processing that can exhibit quadratic backtracking while parsing tracestate headers containing long runs of spaces or tabs without a following comma. An unauthenticated attacker whose headers reach extraction can repeatedly block request or event-loop threads and cause excessive CPU consumption, with practical impact bounded by ingress header-size limits, proxy configuration, and threading. This issue is fixed in version 1.67.0.",
    "evidence": "cve:CVE-2026-118259",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "opentelemetry-java",
          "evidence": "/containers/cna/affected/0/product"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "medium",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2026-118259",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2026-118259"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "scope": "UNCHANGED",
            "version": "3.1",
            "baseScore": 5.3,
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L",
            "integrityImpact": "NONE",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "availabilityImpact": "LOW",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "confidentialityImpact": "NONE"
          }
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "vendor": "open-telemetry",
          "product": "opentelemetry-java",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "< 1.67.0"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T18:53:25.875Z",
      "provider": "cve",
      "references": [
        "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/security/advisories/GHSA-ccrj-gw8r-854m",
        "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/pull/8914",
        "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/commit/ba4dfea91647d1ef596975db5d7197681df3c0f5",
        "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/commit/cc4f5f22aed0d69369941cde8029e73507cf438f",
        "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/releases/tag/v1.67.0"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cna": {
          "orgId": "a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa",
          "shortName": "GitHub_M",
          "dateUpdated": "2026-10-28T18:53:25.875Z"
        }
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-118259",
        "evidence": "/cveMetadata/cveId"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/containers/cna/metrics"
  },
  "source_id": "core-cve",
  "document_id": 477102,
  "published_at": "2026-10-28T18:53:25.875+00:00"
}