CVE-2026-40898: quic-go is an implementation of the QUIC protocol in Go. Prior to version 0.59.1, an attacker can cause excessive memory allocation in quic-go's HTTP/...

Description

quic-go is an implementation of the QUIC protocol in Go. Prior to version 0.59.1, an attacker can cause excessive memory allocation in quic-go's HTTP/3 client and server implementations by sending a QPACK-encoded HEADERS frame that decodes into a large trailer field section with many unique field names and/or large values. The implementation builds an `http.Header` for the corresponding `http.Request` or `http.Response`, while only enforcing limits on the size of the QPACK-compressed HEADERS frame, not on the decoded field section. This can lead to memory exhaustion. This is very similar to CVE-2025-64702. The difference is that this issue uses HTTP trailers, rather than HTTP headers, as the attack vector. A misbehaving or malicious peer can cause a denial-of-service (DoS) attack against quic-go's HTTP/3 servers or clients by triggering excessive memory allocation, potentially leading to crashes or resource exhaustion. This affects both servers and clients due to symmetric header construction. Version 0.59.1 enforces RFC 9114 decoded field section size limits for trailers as well. It incrementally decodes QPACK entries and checks the field section size after each entry, aborting the stream if an entry causes the limit to be exceeded.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

7.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability

0.28%

20.1th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-770

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Quic-Go Project	Quic-Go	< 0.59.1

References

https://github.com/quic-go/quic-go/releases/tag/v0.59.1Product, Release Notes
https://github.com/quic-go/quic-go/security/advisories/GHSA-vvgj-x9jq-8cj9Mitigation, Vendor Advisory

Timeline

Published: Jun 4, 2026
Last Modified: Jul 22, 2026
Status: Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-40898?

quic-go is an implementation of the QUIC protocol in Go. Prior to version 0.59.1, an attacker can cause excessive memory allocation in quic-go's HTTP/3 client and server implementations by sending a QPACK-encoded HEADERS frame that decodes into a large trailer field section with many unique field names and/or large values. The implementation builds an `http.Header` for the corresponding `http.Request` or `http.Response`, while only enforcing limits on the size of the QPACK-compressed HEADERS frame, not on the decoded field section. This can lead to memory exhaustion. This is very similar to CVE-2025-64702. The difference is that this issue uses HTTP trailers, rather than HTTP headers, as the attack vector. A misbehaving or malicious peer can cause a denial-of-service (DoS) attack against quic-go's HTTP/3 servers or clients by triggering excessive memory allocation, potentially leading to crashes or resource exhaustion. This affects both servers and clients due to symmetric header construction. Version 0.59.1 enforces RFC 9114 decoded field section size limits for trailers as well. It incrementally decodes QPACK entries and checks the field section size after each entry, aborting the stream if an entry causes the limit to be exceeded.

How severe is CVE-2026-40898?

CVE-2026-40898 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.28% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2026-40898?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

How Strix Helps

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