Decompression-bomb guard bypass in vLLM Nemotron-VL processors
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-400.
Summary
vLLM from 0.10.2 before 0.25.0 contains an uncontrolled resource consumption flaw (CWE-400) because the Nemotron-VL processors globally set Image.MAX_IMAGE_PIXELS to None, which removes the decompression-bomb size limit. An unauthenticated remote attacker can submit a pathological image to /v1/chat/completions to exhaust memory, kill the worker and deny service to co-tenants.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04
Description from the CNA
vLLM from 0.10.2 before 0.25.0 contains an uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust memory because the Nemotron-VL processors globally set Image.MAX_IMAGE_PIXELS to None. Attackers can submit a pathological decompression-bomb image to /v1/chat/completions to OOM-kill the worker and deny service to co-tenants.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vllm-project | vllm | 0.10.2 to before 0.25.0 | 0.25.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- vllm Vendorvllm-project Affected 0.10.2 to before 0.25.0 Fixed in 0.25.0 Patch available CNA
Remediation
Upgrade vLLM to 0.25.0 or later. Red Hat fixes Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 in RHSA-2026:94738 (CUDA), RHSA-2026:94721 (Gaudi), RHSA-2026:94717 (Spyre), RHSA-2026:94709 (ROCm) and RHSA-2026:94702 (CPU). Red Hat's plan for Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3 and Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) is none available.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04
- Fix · CNA vllm (vllm-project) Fixed in 0.25.0
Red Hat 5 advisories
- RHSA-2026:94738 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference 3.5.3 (CUDA)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-cuda-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:94721 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference Tech Preview 3.5.3 (Gaudi)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-gaudi-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:94717 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference 3.5.3 (Spyre)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-spyre-rhel9
Show 2 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2026:94709 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference 3.5.3 (ROCm)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-rocm-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:94702 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference 3.5.3 (CPU)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-cpu-rhel9
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat AI Inference Server | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:94702, RHSA-2026:94709, RHSA-2026:94717, RHSA-2026:94721, RHSA-2026:94738 |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)
Timeline
- 2026-10-25 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-116177
- 2026-10-25 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-25 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-26 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-26 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-27 Alias added: GHSA-p9gm-63qh-x2pq
- 2026-10-29 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-29 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94717 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94709 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94738 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94702 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94721 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 · Red Hat
References
More vllm-project vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-10229 Remote Code Execution in vllm-project/vllm CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-08404 Remote Code Execution in vllm-project/vllm CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-36017 vLLM: OpenAI auth bypass CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2026-63056 vLLM before 0.28.0 Denial of Service via negative token ID CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-04308 Hardcoded trust_remote_code=True in vllm-project/vllm Bypasses User Security Control CVSS 3.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-39137 vLLM: Remote DoS in vLLM via Invalid Recovered Token Reinjection CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-116177 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-116177 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-p9gm-63qh-x2pq · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-116177 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences