CVE-2026-94657 in Thrift
Summary
by MITRE • 10/02/2026
Allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability in Apache Thrift JavaME bindings.
This issue affects Apache Thrift: before 0.25.0.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 0.25.0, which fixes the issue.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/02/2026
The identified vulnerability represents a critical resource management flaw within the JavaME bindings of the Apache Thrift framework prior to version 0.25.0. This specific weakness falls under the category of Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling, commonly referenced in industry standards as CWE-770. In this context, the underlying issue stems from the server-side implementation failing to enforce strict constraints on resource consumption during request processing. When a client initiates communication with an Apache Thrift service using these vulnerable bindings, the system does not adequately limit or throttle the allocation of memory, CPU cycles, or other computational resources required to handle the incoming data stream. This lack of control allows for unbounded growth in resource usage relative to the input size or frequency of requests sent by a client application.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risks related to service availability and system stability. An attacker can exploit this flaw by sending specially crafted requests that trigger excessive memory allocation or processing overhead without corresponding limits being applied. This behavior is characteristic of resource exhaustion attacks, which are frequently categorized under the Denial-of-Service (DoS) techniques in the MITRE ATT&CK framework, specifically aligning with tactics such as Impact and Resource Hijacking. By continuously sending high-volume or large-payload requests, a malicious actor can deplete the available system resources on the host machine running the Thrift service. This leads to performance degradation for legitimate users, eventual crash of the application process due out-of-memory errors, or complete unavailability of the service until manual intervention is performed by system administrators.
The impact extends beyond simple downtime; it also poses potential risks to data integrity and confidentiality if the resource exhaustion causes instability that affects other components within a microservices architecture. In environments where Apache Thrift is used for inter-service communication, particularly in constrained IoT or mobile device contexts implied by the JavaME bindings, the consequences of such an attack can be severe due to limited hardware resources on endpoint devices. The inability to throttle incoming connections means that even low-bandwidth attackers with modest computational power could potentially disrupt services running on resource-constrained environments, amplifying the severity of the vulnerability in specific deployment scenarios.
To mitigate this risk, organizations must prioritize upgrading their Apache Thrift dependencies to version 0.25.0 or later, where these allocation limits and throttling mechanisms have been properly implemented and enforced by the development team. Until an upgrade is feasible, defensive measures should be applied at the network perimeter using firewalls or reverse proxies that enforce rate limiting on incoming connections to specific Thrift endpoints. Additionally, implementing application-level monitoring for memory usage spikes can help detect potential exploitation attempts early. It is also advisable to review configuration settings related to connection pooling and buffer sizes to ensure they are aligned with expected traffic patterns, thereby reducing the attack surface available to adversaries attempting to trigger resource exhaustion conditions within the JavaME binding layer of the framework.