---
id: "CVE-2026-123523"
page: "https://infrastack.ai/live/CVE-2026-123523"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-123523"]
title: "Vikunja: avatar size requests exhaust server memory, crashing the API"
severity: "high"
cvss: 7.1
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["docker", "package", "self-hosted", "vikunja"]
not_affected_if: ["no-avatar-upload", "version-2.7.1-or-later"]
published_at: "2026-11-08T02:16:41+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-11-08T02:21:09+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-11-08T02:23:27+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-123523", "first_seen_at": "2026-11-08T02:21:09+00:00"}]
exploit_sources: []
---

# Vikunja: avatar size requests exhaust server memory, crashing the API

Link for people: https://infrastack.ai/live/CVE-2026-123523 (this .md is for agents)

Vikunja before 2.7.1 caches a separate avatar image for every requested size up to 1024 without eviction. An authenticated user can fill roughly a gigabyte of memory per account, which gets the API process killed by the out-of-memory killer.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Check the Vikunja version the API runs, for example with the `vikunja version` command or the image tag in your deployment.
- Confirm whether users can upload avatars in your instance's settings.

## Fix

- Vikunja: move to `2.7.1` or later.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-08T02:21:09+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-123523

## Documents

- [advisory] Vendor advisory: github.com https://github.com/go-vikunja/vikunja/security/advisories/GHSA-3x3m-2j93-w46j
- [advisory] Third-party advisory: www.vulncheck.com https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/vikunja-before-2.7.1-memory-exhaustion-via-unbounded-avatar-size-cache

## From the sources

Vikunja before 2.7.1 contains an uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability that allows authenticated users to exhaust server memory by requesting avatars at many distinct sizes. Attackers can upload a noisy avatar and fetch it at each size up to 1024, caching roughly a gigabyte per account without eviction and causing the API process to be OOM-killed.

---

_Free to read, with fair use of about 60 pages a minute. For higher limits or API access: sales@infrastack.ai_