CVE-2026-81872
LOWDescription
OpenTelemetry-Go is the Go implementation of OpenTelemetry. Prior to version 0.21.0, the go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk/log BatchingProcessor can enter a tight CPU loop when attacker-driven log emission fills its asynchronous export buffer while the exporter is backpressured. NewBatchingProcessor wraps the exporter with newBufferExporter(exporter, 1), and the poll loop calls queue.TryDequeue and bufferExporter.EnqueueExport before immediately signaling pollTrigger whenever the queue remains at or above batchSize. Because a failed nonblocking EnqueueExport leaves the queue length unchanged, the processor repeatedly retries without waiting for its ticker, exhausting CPU and degrading or denying service in the embedding process. This issue is fixed in version 0.21.0.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v4 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 30% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-400 (Resource Exhaustion) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-44487 | High | 7.5 | 100% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2021-44228 | Critical | 10.0 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | Fix |
| CVE-2011-3192 | High | 7.8 | 99% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-11478 | Medium | 5.3 | 95% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-21547 | High | 7.5 | 89% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2018-1000115 | High | 7.5 | 88% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-81872?
Published advisories record a fix for 24 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2026-81872 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-81872 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.38% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 30% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-81872?
CVE-2026-81872 has a CVSS v4 base score of 6.3, rated low. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2026-81872 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for caddy (Rocky), caddy (Red Hat / RHEL), distribution (Red Hat / RHEL), distribution (Rocky), and 20 more. Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2026-81872
Markdown
[](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2026-81872)HTML
<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2026-81872"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2026-81872.svg" alt="CVE-2026-81872"></a>Check your Linux endpoints for this class of vulnerability
TridentStack Control continuously scans Linux endpoints for known vulnerabilities and deploys the fixes from the same console. 200 endpoints free forever, no credit card.
This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-09-30.