CVE-2026-97688
MEDIUMDescription
urllib3 is an HTTP client library for Python. From 2.6.2 until 2.8.0, HTTPResponse.stream and HTTPResponse.read_chunked can enter an infinite loop because the Deflate decoder retains trailing bytes as unconsumed input after reaching end-of-stream and repeatedly decodes them without progress. The issue occurs when an untrusted server sends a chunked Deflate response whose decoded body exceeds a positive finite chunk size and whose encoded body has trailing bytes, specifically a response with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and Content-Encoding: deflate, content decoding enabled, and the positive finite amt=N streaming chunk size. The attack mechanism is that a malicious server returns a compressed chunked response with trailing bytes after the Deflate stream. The impact is excessive CPU usage and a request that does not complete, and network read timeouts do not interrupt the loop because no further socket read occurs. This issue is fixed in version 2.8.0.
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:N/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 20% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-835 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2020-13935 | High | 7.5 | 87% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2014-0050 | High | 7.5 | 83% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2020-36227 | High | 7.5 | 77% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2022-0778 | High | 7.5 | 73% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-20353 | High | 8.6 | 71% | KEV | - |
| CVE-2019-14241 | High | 7.5 | 70% | - | - |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-97688?
Upgrade python-urllib3 on debian unstable to 2.8.0-1 or later.
Is CVE-2026-97688 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-97688 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.29% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 20% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-97688?
CVE-2026-97688 has a CVSS v4 base score of 6.9, rated medium. 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-2026-97688 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for python-urllib3 (Debian). 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-2026-97688
Markdown
[](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2026-97688)HTML
<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2026-97688"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2026-97688.svg" alt="CVE-2026-97688"></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.