CVE-2026-41483: Unbounded HTTP response body read in OpenTelemetry.Resources.Azure
Summary
OpenTelemetry.Resources.Azure reads unbounded HTTP response bodies from the Azure VM remote instance metadata service endpoint into memory.
This would allow an attacker-controlled endpoint or one acting as a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) to cause excessive memory allocation and possible process termination (via Out of Memory (OOM)).
Details
The AzureVmMetaDataRequestor class makes HTTP requests to the relevant Azure VM instance metadata service (http://169.254.169.254) to obtain metadata about the running process and its infrastructure.
An attacker who controls the configured endpoint, or who can intercept traffic to them (MiTM), can return an arbitrarily large response body. This causes unbounded heap allocation in the consuming process, leading to high transient memory pressure, garbage-collection stalls, or an OutOfMemoryException that terminates the process.
Impact
Denial of Service (DoS). An attacker can destabilize or crash the application by forcing unbounded memory allocation through the Azure VM instance metadata HTTP response paths.
Mitigating Factors
The application's reachable Azure VM metadata endpoint needs to behave maliciously or be subject to MitM. In normal usage response bodies should not be excessively large.
Patches
Fixed in OpenTelemetry.Resources.Azure version 1.15.0-beta.2.
The fix (#4121) introduce changes that introduce limits to HttpClient requests so that the response body is streamed rather than buffered entirely in memory. Responses greater than 4 MiB are ignored.
Workarounds
- Disable the Azure VM resource detector. - Use network-level controls (firewall rules, mTLS, service mesh) to prevent Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks on the Azure VM instance metadata endpoint.
References
- #4121
Other sources
OpenTelemetry.Resources.Azure is the .NET resource detector for Azure environments. In versions 1.15.0-beta.1 and earlier, the AzureVmMetaDataRequestor class makes HTTP requests to the Azure VM instance metadata service and reads the response body into memory without any size limit. An attacker who controls the configured endpoint, or who can intercept traffic to it via a man-in-the-middle attack, can return an arbitrarily large response body. This causes unbounded heap allocation in the consuming process, leading to high transient memory pressure, garbage-collection stalls, or an OutOfMemoryException that terminates the process. As a workaround, disable the Azure VM resource detector or use network-level controls such as firewall rules, mTLS, or a service mesh to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks on the Azure VM instance metadata endpoint. This issue is fixed in version 1.15.1-beta.1, which streams responses rather than buffering them entirely in memory and ignores responses larger than 4 MiB.
— MITRE
Affected Software
Remediation
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2026-41483?
CVE-2026-41483 has a high severity due to its potential for excessive memory allocation.
How do I fix CVE-2026-41483?
To fix CVE-2026-41483, upgrade to version 1.15.1-beta.1 of the OpenTelemetry.Resources.Azure package.
What types of attacks are possible with CVE-2026-41483?
CVE-2026-41483 allows for man-in-the-middle attacks that could exploit unbounded HTTP response bodies.
Which software versions are vulnerable to CVE-2026-41483?
Versions of OpenTelemetry.Resources.Azure prior to 1.15.1-beta.1 are vulnerable to CVE-2026-41483.
What is the primary impact of CVE-2026-41483?
The primary impact of CVE-2026-41483 is potential denial of service due to excessive memory usage.