Client resource exhaustion via decoded redirect draining
Published Jan 7, 2026 · Updated Aug 28, 2026
Resource exhaustion in urllib3 1.22 through 2.6.2 allows remote attackers to consume client CPU and memory via compressed redirects. HTTPResponse.drain_conn reads an unread redirect body with decoding enabled, so compressed data is fully expanded before application reads and outside configured read limits. Exploitation requires streaming untrusted content with preload_content=False while redirects remain enabled; the resulting resource pressure can hang or crash the client process.
Summary
What happened
Resource exhaustion in urllib3 1.22 through 2.6.2 allows remote attackers to consume client CPU and memory via compressed redirects. HTTPResponse.drain_conn reads an unread redirect body with decoding enabled, so compressed data is fully expanded before application reads and outside configured read limits. Exploitation requires streaming untrusted content with preload_content=False while redirects remain enabled; the resulting resource pressure can hang or crash the client process.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-21441
- Published
- Jan 7, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 28, 2026
- Vendor
- 389 Directory Server
- Product
- Red Hat Quay
- Classifications
- CWE-409, T1499
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 7, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 28, 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?
Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
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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