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Nuxt: Unauthenticated CPU exhaustion parsing and hashing the Nuxt island endpoint body before hash validation

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jul 27, 2026 in nuxt/nuxt • Updated Aug 5, 2026

Package

npm nuxt (npm)

Affected versions

>= 4.0.0, < 4.5.1
>= 3.1.0, < 3.21.10

Patched versions

4.5.1
3.21.10

Description

Impact

The internal island renderer endpoint (/__nuxt_island/...) decodes and hashes attacker-controlled request input before it validates the URL-resident hash. An unauthenticated POST /__nuxt_island/<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 /__nuxt_island/ at your reverse proxy / edge (islands legitimately send only a compact props payload), or disable server components if unused.

References

@danielroe danielroe published to nuxt/nuxt Jul 27, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Aug 5, 2026
Reviewed Aug 5, 2026
Last updated Aug 5, 2026

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(35th percentile)

Weaknesses

Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity

An algorithm in a product has an inefficient worst-case computational complexity that may be detrimental to system performance and can be triggered by an attacker, typically using crafted manipulations that ensure that the worst case is being reached. Learn more on MITRE.

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-71321

GHSA ID

GHSA-9pgf-384g-p7mv

Source code

Credits

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