CVE-2026-14981 in WebSphere Application Server
Summary
by MITRE • 07/29/2026
IBM WebSphere Application Server 9.0, and 8.5 and IBM WebSphere Application Server - Liberty 17.0.0.3 through 26.0.0.7 are affected by a denial of service vulnerability in the HTTP channel due to unbounded allocation of resources without limits.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/29/2026
This vulnerability affects IBM WebSphere Application Server versions 9.0 and 8.5, as well as IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty versions 17.0.0.3 through 26.0.0.7, creating a critical denial of service condition within the HTTP channel implementation. The flaw stems from insufficient resource management mechanisms that fail to impose boundaries on memory allocation during HTTP request processing, allowing malicious actors to exploit this weakness by crafting specially designed requests that trigger unlimited resource consumption.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-770, which addresses allocation of resources without proper limits or checks. When the HTTP channel processes incoming requests, it fails to validate or constrain the size and number of resources allocated during request handling, leading to potential memory exhaustion attacks. This unbounded resource allocation occurs at multiple levels within the application server's HTTP processing pipeline, where request headers, body content, and connection management components can all contribute to the resource depletion without any safeguard mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise entire application server instances and underlying infrastructure. Attackers can exploit this weakness by sending crafted HTTP requests that gradually consume available memory resources until the system becomes unresponsive or crashes entirely. This type of attack can be particularly devastating in production environments where WebSphere servers handle critical business applications, as it can lead to complete service outages affecting multiple users and business processes simultaneously.
The vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which involves network denial of service attacks through resource exhaustion. Organizations running affected IBM WebSphere versions face significant risk of operational disruption, as this vulnerability can be exploited remotely without requiring authentication credentials. The attack surface is broad since any HTTP endpoint exposed by the application server can potentially be targeted, making it particularly dangerous for publicly accessible web applications.
Mitigation strategies should include implementing resource limits and monitoring mechanisms within the WebSphere configuration, applying the latest security patches from IBM that address this specific vulnerability, and deploying network-level protections such as rate limiting and connection pooling restrictions. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems to monitor for unusual resource consumption patterns and establish automated alerting mechanisms when memory usage exceeds predefined thresholds. Additionally, regular vulnerability assessments and security audits should be conducted to identify and remediate similar resource management weaknesses in other components of the application infrastructure.