CVE-2026-71321: Nuxt: Unauthenticated CPU exhaustion parsing and hashing the Nuxt island endpoint body before hash validation

Published Aug 5, 2026
·
Updated

Impact

The internal island renderer endpoint (/nuxtisland/...) decodes and hashes attacker-controlled request input before it validates the URL-resident hash. An unauthenticated POST /nuxtisland/<name><anything>.json with a large JSON body (for example ~4.6 MB / 150k keys) is fully read, destr-parsed, and run through ohash before the request is rejected with a 400. Because Nitro runs on a single event loop, this both wastes CPU on the doomed request and delays every concurrent request. A low request rate is enough to degrade or stall the server. No valid hash and no authentication are required.

Patches

Fixed in nuxt@4.5.1 and nuxt@3.21.10. The island handler now enforces a raw body-size cap (413) and a JSON nesting-depth cap (400) before parsing or hashing, so oversized or deeply nested input is rejected cheaply.

Workarounds

Put a small request-body limit in front of /nuxtisland/ at your reverse proxy / edge (islands legitimately send only a compact props payload), or disable server components if unused.

Other sources

Nuxt is an open-source web development framework for Vue.js. From 3.1.0 until 3.21.10 and 4.5.1, the internal island renderer endpoint /nuxtisland/... decodes and hashes attacker-controlled JSON body input with destr and ohash before validating the URL-resident hash. An unauthenticated POST /nuxtisland/.json with a large JSON body is fully read, parsed, hashed, and then rejected, which wastes CPU on Nitro single event loop and delays concurrent requests. No valid hash and no authentication are required. This issue is fixed in 3.21.10 and 4.5.1.

— MITRE

Affected Software

2 affected componentsFixes available
npm/nuxt>=3.1.0<3.21.10
3.21.10
npm/nuxt>=4.0.0<4.5.1
4.5.1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade npm/nuxt to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 3.21.10
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade npm/nuxt to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 4.5.1
  3. Upgrade

    Upgrade nuxt to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 4.5.1
  4. Upgrade

    Upgrade nuxt to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 3.21.10
  5. Configuration

    If server components are not used, disable server components to avoid the vulnerable internal island renderer endpoint from being active.

    Nuxt server components server components = disable (if unused)
  6. Compensating control

    At the reverse proxy/edge, put a small request-body limit in front of the internal island renderer endpoint path `/__nuxt_island/` (islands legitimately send only a compact props payload) to prevent large unauthenticated JSON bodies from reaching the server.

Event History

Aug 5, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·09:42 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·09:42 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Advisory Published
via GitHub·09:43 PM
Data Sourced
via GitHub·09:43 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Data Sourced
via NVD·10:17 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2026-71321?

The severity of CVE-2026-71321 is high, rated at 7.5.

2

What is the impact of CVE-2026-71321?

CVE-2026-71321 allows unauthenticated users to exploit the internal island renderer endpoint with large JSON payloads, leading to potential denial of service.

3

How do I fix CVE-2026-71321?

To fix CVE-2026-71321, update to the latest version of Nuxt that addresses this vulnerability.

4

What are the affected software versions for CVE-2026-71321?

CVE-2026-71321 affects certain versions of the Nuxt framework.

5

Who is affected by CVE-2026-71321?

Developers and users of applications that utilize the Nuxt framework may be affected by CVE-2026-71321.

Contact

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