Vulnerability · Published Jun 10, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck
CVE-2026-10142kafka-python prior to 2.3.2 Denial of Service via Protocol Parser Frame Length
High 7.5
In plain English
A high-severity security flaw in kafka-python from Dana Powers. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.3% (higher than 28% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
kafka-python prior to 2.3.2 contains a denial-of-service vulnerability in the protocol parser that allows a malicious broker or machine-in-the-middle attacker to exhaust memory or hang connections by sending a crafted 4-byte frame length value without bounds validation. Attackers can send a specially crafted frame length through the receive_bytes() function to trigger either a multi-gigabyte memory allocation or an uncaught ValueError that leaves the connection in a broken state, causing requests to hang and consumers to stop heartbeating until restart.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | python-kafka | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-10142 |
| Debian:13 | python-kafka | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-10142 |
| Debian:14 | python-kafka | 2.0.2-13 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-10142 |
| PyPI | kafka-python | 2.3.2 | GHSA-m3px-q5gj-j9x7 |
| PyPI | kafka-python | 2.3.2 | PYSEC-2026-2190 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | python-kafka | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-10142 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | python-kafka | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-10142 |
| Ubuntu:25.10 | python-kafka | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-10142 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | python-kafka | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-10142 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | python-kafka | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-10142 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Dana Powers | kafka-python | 0 – before 2.3.2 |
Weakness: CWE-789 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
References
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/kafka-python-prior-to-denial-of-service-via-protocol-parser-frame-length technical-description, third-party-advisory
- https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/pull/3019 issue-tracking
- https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/pull/3026 issue-tracking
- https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/commit/6e4831444f972d169cdd11f5c8d50333cea3f19b patch