{"id":"CVE-2026-90799","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-90799"],"related":[],"title":"Apache CouchDB: unsafe deserialisation lets a user exhaust server memory","description":"Unsafe binary deserialisation in chttpd in Apache CouchDB 3.5.2 and below on all platforms allows an authenticated user to cause a denial of service via memory exhaustion.\n\nUsers are recommended to upgrade to version 3.5.3, which fixes this issue.","summary":"Apache CouchDB 3.5.2 and below deserialises untrusted binary data in its chttpd HTTP layer without safe limits. An authenticated user can exhaust server memory and cause a denial of service.","severity":"low","cvss":1.3,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["couchdb","database","package","self-hosted"],"not_affected_if":["auth-required","managed-hosting"],"how_to_check":"- Run `curl -s http://localhost:5984/` on the CouchDB host and read the `version` field; anything at or below `3.5.2` is affected.\n- Check the installed version with `couchdb --version` if the binary is on the path.","fix":"- Upgrade Apache CouchDB to `3.5.3` or later.","status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-20T16:17:15+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:20+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-25T04:50:06+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-25T04:50:06+00:00","category":"package","confidence":0.7,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-25T04:50:06Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"- Upgrade Apache CouchDB to `3.5.3` or later.","reach":"network","title":"Apache CouchDB: unsafe deserialisation lets a user exhaust server memory","impact":"low","summary":"Apache CouchDB 3.5.2 and below deserialises untrusted binary data in its chttpd HTTP layer without safe limits. An authenticated user can exhaust server memory and cause a denial of service.","category":"package","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["couchdb","self-hosted","database"],"confidence":0.7,"needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"Authenticated user exhausts server memory, causing denial of service.","analyst_note":"","how_to_check":"- Run `curl -s http://localhost:5984/` on the CouchDB host and read the `version` field; anything at or below `3.5.2` is affected.\n- Check the installed version with `couchdb --version` if the binary is on the path.","needs_analyst":false,"not_affected_if":["managed-hosting","auth-required"],"who_is_affected":"Any team running Apache CouchDB 3.5.2 or earlier where users can make authenticated HTTP requests to the chttpd endpoint, including self-hosted and shared deployments. Deployments where only fully trusted operators hold accounts face little practical risk, and managed hosts will patch on their own schedule.","user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"no","severity_if_unknown":"low"},"cost_usd":0.000583,"input_tokens":3321,"output_tokens":502,"severity_before":"low"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2026':12A,15A '-90799':13A,16A '3.5.2':25B,61C '3.5.3':87C 'allow':67C 'apach':1A,23B,59C 'authent':41B,69C 'binari':30B,54C 'caus':48B,72C 'chttpd':34B,57C 'couchdb':2A,17B,24B,60C 'cve':11A,14A 'data':31B 'databas':18B 'denial':50B,74C 'deserialis':4A,28B,55C 'exhaust':8A,44B,79C 'fix':89C 'host':22B 'http':35B 'issu':91C 'layer':36B 'let':5A 'limit':39B 'memori':10A,46B,78C 'packag':19B 'platform':66C 'recommend':82C 'safe':38B 'self':21B 'self-host':20B 'server':9A,45B 'servic':52B,76C 'unsaf':3A,53C 'untrust':29B 'upgrad':84C 'user':7A,42B,70C,80C 'version':86C 'via':77C 'without':37B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Any team running Apache CouchDB 3.5.2 or earlier where users can make authenticated HTTP requests to the chttpd endpoint, including self-hosted and shared deployments. Deployments where only fully trusted operators hold accounts face little practical risk, and managed hosts will patch on their own schedule.","tier":"C","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-20T16:17:15+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L/E:U/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:N/AU:Y/R:A/V:D/RE:M/U:Amber","cvss_by":"security@apache.org","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-90799","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90799","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-20T16:17:15+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-20T19:34:00+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:20+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:28:58+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}