Medium severity · published Aug 19, 2026
CVE-2026-44253
Wazuh: Cluster Protocol Memory Exhaustion (DoS) via unbounded receive_str allocation and div_msg_box accumulation
4.9
CVSS
0.6%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Wazuh is a free and open source platform used for threat prevention, detection, and response. From 3.9.0 until 4.14.5 and 5.0.0-beta2, the Wazuh cluster protocol in framework/wazuh/core/cluster/common.py allows an authenticated cluster node to exhaust memory on the master. The receive_str() method accepts an attacker-controlled total for InBuffer without a maximum, so a new_str command can request a multi-gigabyte bytearray and repeated requests accumulate in in_str. The divided-message path also retains flag_divided fragments under unique counters in div_msg_box without a count, aggregate-size, or expiration limit. Exploitation can disrupt agent connectivity and alert processing across the monitored environment. This issue is fixed in versions 4.14.5 and 5.0.0-beta2.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.6% · higher than 49% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
WA
wazuh · wazuh
>= 3.9.0, < 4.14.5; >= 5.0.0-beta1, < 5.0.0-beta2 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44253
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44253
Patch
https://github.com/wazuh/wazuh/commit/d29c5c89a0e16477545ca27f4e06229021e3183c
Issue Tracking
https://github.com/wazuh/wazuh/pull/35173
Patch
https://github.com/wazuh/wazuh/releases/tag/v4.14.5
Exploit
https://github.com/wazuh/wazuh/security/advisories/GHSA-h5r8-gvhv-cmp2
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