Unauthenticated denial of service via unbounded gRPC connections
Published Aug 7, 2026 · Updated Aug 7, 2026
Uncontrolled resource allocation in HashiCorp Consul and Consul Enterprise 1.13.0 through 2.0.2 allows remote attackers to interrupt service. The external gRPC listeners retain file descriptors, goroutines, and memory for incomplete connections without per-source limits or short establishment timeouts. Only deployments with external gRPC or gRPC-TLS listeners enabled are exposed; no valid gRPC request or ACL token is required, and sustained connections can block legitimate clients.
Summary
What happened
Uncontrolled resource allocation in HashiCorp Consul and Consul Enterprise 1.13.0 through 2.0.2 allows remote attackers to interrupt service. The external gRPC listeners retain file descriptors, goroutines, and memory for incomplete connections without per-source limits or short establishment timeouts. Only deployments with external gRPC or gRPC-TLS listeners enabled are exposed; no valid gRPC request or ACL token is required, and sustained connections can block legitimate clients.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-15972
- Published
- Aug 7, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 7, 2026
- Vendor
- HashiCorp
- Product
- Consul Enterprise
- Classifications
- CWE-770, CAPEC-125, T1498.001
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 7, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 7, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=1.13.0 <2.0.3 changes=[{"at":"1.21.17","status":"unaffected"},{"at":"1.22.11","status":"unaffected"}]
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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