CVE-2026-114603
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AI Threat Summary
CVE-2026-114603 is a moderate vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.3 affecting the target software. Authentication can be bypassed allowing unauthenticated access. Threat hunters should monitor for exploit attempts and apply vendor patches immediately.
Description
OpenTelemetry Python provides the Python API and SDK for OpenTelemetry. Prior to 1.45.1, the opentelemetry-api function TraceState.from_header in opentelemetry/trace/span.py, reached through TraceContextTextMapPropagator.extract, parses inbound W3C tracestate headers with an unbounded optional-whitespace regular expression. A malformed header containing a long run of spaces or tabs without a following comma causes quadratic backtracking before the member-count limit is applied. Services using the default W3C Trace Context propagator can therefore spend excessive CPU time on one unauthenticated request when the HTTP server, parser, gateway, or custom carrier accepts a sufficiently large header. The processing can occupy a synchronous worker or delay unrelated requests on the same asynchronous event loop. The impact is limited to availability and does not expose or modify telemetry data or allow code execution. This issue is fixed in version 1.45.1.
Attack Chain
Attacker identifies authentication endpoint and tests for bypass conditions
Attacker exploits CVE-2026-114603 authentication flaw to gain unauthorized access without valid credentials
Attacker enumerates accessible resources, users, and configurations
Attacker exfiltrates sensitive data accessible without proper authorization
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
Indicators of Compromise
| Type | Value | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| user_agent | Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; exploit/1.0) |
Generic exploit scanner user agent pattern | |
| url | /api/vuln-endpoint?payload=<malicious> |
Exploit attempt against application endpoint — monitor access logs for anomalous params |
Remediation
Quick Facts
| CVE ID | CVE-2026-114603 |
| CVSS Score | 5.3 |
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L |
| Published | 2026-10-22 |
| Exploited | No |
| CISA KEV | No |
| PoC | Not public |
References
- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/blob/…
- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/commi…
- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/…
- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/relea…
- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/secur…