Vulnerability · Published Oct 21, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-114138Django REST framework: Accept header with many large quoted parameters burns ~19s of CPU per request in content negotiation
High 7.5
In plain English
A high-severity uncontrolled resource consumption in django-rest-framework from encode. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.6% (higher than 49% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
Django REST framework is a toolkit for building Web APIs. Prior to 3.18.2, DefaultContentNegotiation.get_accept_list in rest_framework/negotiation.py accepts an unbounded number and aggregate size of Accept tokens, while select_renderer in that file repeatedly invokes _MediaType parsing from rest_framework/utils/mediatypes.py for each attacker-controlled token, every renderer, and forced 406 renegotiation. A remote unauthenticated client can send many distinct media types containing large quoted parameter values with numerous semicolons, causing Django's parameter parser and DRF's repeated parsing structure to consume disproportionate CPU. Requests to any reachable endpoint can pin synchronous workers for prolonged periods, and concurrent requests can make the service unavailable until the requests stop. This issue is fixed in version 3.18.2.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | djangorestframework | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-114138 |
| Debian:13 | djangorestframework | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-114138 |
| Debian:14 | djangorestframework | 3.18.3+ds1-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-114138 |
| PyPI | djangorestframework | 3.18.2 | GHSA-33wh-fxxf-88vv |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | djangorestframework | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-114138 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | djangorestframework | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-114138 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | djangorestframework | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-114138 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | djangorestframework | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-114138 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| encode | django-rest-framework | < 3.18.2 |
Weakness: CWE-400, CWE-407 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
References
- https://github.com/encode/django-rest-framework/security/advisories/GHSA-33wh-fxxf-88vv x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/encode/django-rest-framework/commit/148ab6523922d5a0c110f76615935e5220b63029 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/encode/django-rest-framework/releases/tag/3.18.2 x_refsource_MISC