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Message-ID: <2324cb71-f5fc-52e9-d554-b9b1a8595e48@apache.org>
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2026 07:37:12 +0000
From: Christofer Dutz <cdutz@...che.org>
To: oss-security@...ts.openwall.com
Subject: CVE-2026-102509: Apache PLC4X: Pre-authentication resource
exhaustion in the OPC UA driver and the Java SPI parser
Severity:
CVSS 4.0: 8.7 (high) CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Affected versions:
- Apache PLC4X 0.10.0 before 1.0.0
- Apache PLC4X 1.0.0 unaffected
- Apache PLC4X 0.10.0 before 1.0.0
- Apache PLC4X 1.0.0 unaffected
Description:
Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value, Allocation of Resources Without Limits, and Uncontrolled Recursion in the Java implementation of Apache PLC4X (PLC4J) allow a malicious or impersonated device to exhaust the memory or stack of the client application, causing a denial of service.
In the OPC UA driver these defects are reachable before authentication: the offending data is parsed while the secure channel and session are being established, before the server's identity has been bound to it. Configuring a trusted server therefore does not prevent exploitation by an attacker who can
impersonate it.
The individual defects are:
- Length-prefixed byte strings are allocated at the size claimed on the wire before the length is checked against the data actually received (0.10.0 through 0.13.1).
- Array fields in generated protocol parsers pre-allocate a list with the element count claimed on the wire, allowing a single count field to trigger a multi-gigabyte allocation. This parser is shared by all PLC4J drivers; the OPC UA driver is the verified pre-authentication path (0.10.0 through 0.13.1).
- The OPC UA driver accumulates message chunks without enforcing the negotiated maximum chunk count and message size (0.12.0 through 0.13.1).
- The OPC UA driver pre-allocates collections using element counts received from the server (0.10.0 through 0.13.1).
- Recursive protocol types are parsed without a nesting-depth limit. The same defect in the Go implementation is covered by CVE-2026-102510 https://cveprocess.apache.org/cve5/CVE-2026-102510 .
This issue affects Apache PLC4X: from 0.10.0 before 1.0.0.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 1.0.0, which fixes the issue.
Credit:
Abhinav Agarwal (finder)
References:
https://plc4x.apache.org/
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-102509
Timeline:
2026-07-09: reported to the Apache Security Team
2026-07-10: reported issues fixed on develop (a2dbb6bfc0, 5a4d5bdb4c)
2026-09-07: Apache PLC4X 1.0.0 released with the fixes
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