CVE-2026-12151: Denial of Service via Uncontrolled Fragment Buffering in Undici WebSocket Client
Vulnerability ID: CVE-2026-12151
CVSS Score: 7.5
Published: 2026-06-19
A high-severity denial of service vulnerability in the undici WebSocket client (CVE-2026-12151) arises from uncontrolled memory consumption. Although undici validates individual fragment sizes against a cumulative payload limit, it fails to cap the total number of frames in a single message stream. This allows a rogue or compromised WebSocket server to send an infinite sequence of small or empty continuation frames, causing unbounded memory allocation and eventual heap exhaustion on the client process.
TL;DR
The undici WebSocket client does not limit the number of continuation frames per message, enabling a malicious server to crash the client process via heap exhaustion using infinite zero-byte fragments.
⚠️ Exploit Status: POC
Technical Details
- CWE ID: CWE-400, CWE-770
- Attack Vector: Network (AV:N)
- CVSS v3.1 Score: 7.5 (High)
- EPSS Score: 0.00284 (Percentile: 19.97%)
- Impact: Denial of Service (OOM Crash)
- Exploit Status: PoC available, no active wild exploitation
- KEV Status: Not listed
Affected Systems
- undici WebSocket client
- Node.js applications utilizing undici
-
undici: >= 6.17.0 < 6.26.0 (Fixed in:
6.26.0) -
undici: >= 7.0.0 < 7.28.0 (Fixed in:
7.28.0) -
undici: >= 8.0.0 < 8.5.0 (Fixed in:
8.5.0)
Mitigation Strategies
- Upgrade to patched undici releases
- Limit client-side WebSocket connections to trusted domains
- Deploy external process managers (such as systemd, PM2) with auto-restart policies
Remediation Steps:
- Identify vulnerable undici installations via 'npm ls undici'
- Update dependency requirements in package.json to >= 6.26.0, >= 7.28.0, or >= 8.5.0
- Execute 'npm install' or equivalent to apply the patch
- Verify correct resolution via 'npm ls undici' and redeploy
References
- GHSA-vxpw-j846-p89q
- OpenJS Foundation Security Advisories
- CVE-2026-12151 Record
- NVD - CVE-2026-12151
Read the full report for CVE-2026-12151 on our website for more details including interactive diagrams and full exploit analysis.
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