CVE-2026-100137 in C2PA Tool
Summary
by MITRE • 10/13/2026
CAI Content Credentials is affected by an Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability that could lead to application denial-of-service. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to exhaust system resources, resulting in an application denial-of-service condition. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/14/2026
The CAI Content Credentials implementation contains a critical flaw classified as Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, which poses a significant risk to the availability and stability of affected systems. This vulnerability stems from insufficient validation or rate-limiting mechanisms when processing input data related to content credentials. In normal operation, these credentials are used to verify the origin and authenticity of digital media, but the flawed logic allows an attacker to trigger resource-intensive operations without bound. The core technical issue lies in the application's inability to properly manage computational overhead or memory allocation during specific parsing or verification processes. When a maliciously crafted payload is submitted, it forces the system to engage in excessive processing loops, allocate disproportionate amounts of memory, or perform redundant calculations that do not terminate efficiently. This behavior directly leads to resource exhaustion, where CPU cycles and available RAM are consumed at rates far exceeding normal operational thresholds.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability enables a remote denial-of-service attack with minimal effort from the adversary. Because exploitation does not require user interaction, the threat vector is particularly severe; automated bots or scripts can target vulnerable endpoints continuously without needing to trick human users into clicking links or opening files. As system resources are depleted, legitimate services may become unresponsive, leading to service outages for end-users relying on CAI Content Credentials infrastructure. The impact extends beyond simple downtime, as prolonged resource exhaustion can cause cascading failures in dependent systems that rely on the availability of credential verification services. This aligns with common attack patterns observed in distributed denial-of-service scenarios where a single point of failure is exploited to disrupt broader network operations.
In terms of industry standards and threat modeling, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption within the Common Weakness Enumeration taxonomy. The lack of input validation or resource limits allows an attacker to manipulate the system into consuming more resources than intended. Furthermore, from a tactical standpoint, this behavior is consistent with techniques found in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the Impact category, specifically those related to Denial of Service such as Resource Hijacking or Exhaustion Attacks. The absence of user interaction requirement places it firmly within remote exploitation vectors, increasing its severity rating and potential for widespread automated abuse by threat actors seeking to disrupt services rather than steal data.
To mitigate this vulnerability, developers must implement strict input validation and sanitization procedures to ensure that all incoming credential data conforms to expected formats and sizes before processing begins. Implementing rate limiting is essential to prevent any single source from overwhelming the system with requests. Additionally, introducing resource quotas or timeouts for parsing operations can stop infinite loops or excessive memory allocation in real-time. Monitoring tools should be configured to detect anomalous spikes in CPU usage or memory consumption associated with credential verification endpoints, allowing for rapid automated response to potential exploitation attempts. Regular security audits and penetration testing focused on edge cases and malformed inputs will help identify similar weaknesses before they are exploited in production environments.