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OpenStack Ironic CVE-2026-115638

| EUVDEUVD-2026-108570 MEDIUM
Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) (CWE-409)
2026-10-23 mitre GHSA-48wg-78rx-fcjg
4.3
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: mitre
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Authenticate to Ironic provisioning API
  2. Exploit
    Submit crafted gzip-bomb configdrive
  3. Execution
    Service decompresses amplified data
  4. Impact
    Exhaust disk/memory causing denial of service

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Compression ratio limits
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires an authenticated actor with the ability to submit a configdrive to Ironic (for example during node provisioning or rebuild), consistent with PR:L in the CVSS vector; the attacker supplies a configdrive whose compressed content decompresses to a very large uncompressed size. The main limiting factors are that authentication/provisioning privileges are needed (not an anonymous remote attacker) and the impact is confined to availability (resource exhaustion) with no confidentiality or integrity effect. The description does not state a non-default configuration requirement beyond the ability to provide a configdrive, so the precise processing path that triggers amplification is not further detailed in the available sources.

Impact

This is a moderate-severity, availability-only issue, and the signals are internally consistent rather than conflicting. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L, base 4.3) describes a network-reachable but authenticated (PR:L) attack with no confidentiality or integrity impact and only limited availability impact - characteristic of a resource-exhaustion denial of service rather than a system-compromise bug, matching CWE-409 (data amplification / decompression bomb). No EPSS score was supplied, the CVE is not on CISA KEV, and the single reference is a Launchpad bug report rather than published exploit code, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis. The vuln.today decision label is 'this_month', not act_now or emergency, which aligns with a low-to-moderate, authentication-gated DoS. Net: this is a real but non-urgent hardening priority - patch on a normal maintenance cadence; it is not a high-CVSS-but-illusory issue, nor is it an emergency. Note that no fixed version is stated in the available evidence, so remediation timing must be confirmed with the Ironic project.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An authenticated user able to provision or reconfigure a node supplies a configdrive whose gzip-compressed payload expands to a very large amount of uncompressed data (a gzip bomb). When Ironic decompresses and processes it, disk and/or memory are exhausted, degrading or denying service on the affected node/conductor. No public exploit code was identified; the only reference is an upstream bug report.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 23, 2026

Authenticated users who can submit a configdrive to OpenStack Ironic can cause resource exhaustion by supplying highly compressed data that expands to a very large uncompressed size, reducing availability of the provisioning service. Ironic through 39.0.1 is affected, and the issue is scored 4.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L), so impact is limited to availability and requires provisioning-level access. No public exploit code or confirmed active exploitation was identified in the available data.

RemediationAI

No fixed release is listed in the available data, so the primary action is to monitor the Launchpad advisory at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ironic/+bug/2171814 for a patched release and upgrade to a version that the advisory identifies as fixed. Where an upgrade is not yet available, limit configdrive submission to trusted provisioning operators and enforce decompressed-size or resource limits on configdrive handling; these controls reduce exposure but do not fix the root cause and may reject legitimate large configdrives or add provisioning friction. Because the CVSS vector is PR:L, the exposure is limited to authenticated actors, so reviewing which roles can trigger provisioning or rebuild with a supplied configdrive is directly relevant.

Affected VersionsENISA

Ironic 30.0.0 ≤32.1.1
Ironic 36.0.0 ≤39.0.1
Ironic 33.0.0 ≤35.1.1

Affected Packages

euvd ironic no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Ironic is OpenStack's bare-metal provisioning service. A configdrive is a metadata payload attached to a node during provisioning or rebuild; when it is gzip-compressed, Ironic decompresses it to read the contents. CWE-409 describes improper handling of highly compressed data, and in this case the decompression is not bounded to a safe uncompressed size, so a small compressed payload can expand to very large data and consume memory, disk, or CPU. The provided sources do not identify the exact code path, service process, or whether specific deployment configurations or configdrive formats are required; the assessed precondition is an authenticated actor able to submit a configdrive, consistent with PR:L in the CVSS vector. No additional race, timing, or attacker-uncontrolled condition is described in the available sources.

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Severity by source

Vendor (mitre) PRIMARY 4.3 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
vuln.today AI 4.3 MEDIUM

Network-reachable API but requires an authenticated user who can submit a configdrive, so PR:L; impact is resource-exhaustion DoS only, giving C:N/I:N/A:L.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (mitre).

CVSS VectorVendor: mitre

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

DescriptionCVE.org

OpenStack Ironic through 39.0.1 allows a denial of service via a configdrive that results in a very large amount of uncompressed data, aka a gzip bomb.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 89% exploitable
Prevalence
Low
bare-metal provisioning component used by a subset of OpenStack deployments
Social Media
1
Sightings
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

22
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +22
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

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