# CVE-2026-10142: kafka-python prior to 2.3.2 Denial of Service via Protocol Parser Frame Length

Status: published. Published: 2026-06-10. Updated: 2026-11-08.

kafka-python prior to 2.3.2 contains a denial-of-service vulnerability in the protocol parser that allows a malicious broker or machine-in-the-middle attacker to exhaust memory or hang connections by sending a crafted 4-byte frame length value without bounds validation. Attackers can send a specially crafted frame length through the receive_bytes() function to trigger either a multi-gigabyte memory allocation or an uncaught ValueError that leaves the connection in a broken state, causing requests to hang and consumers to stop heartbeating until restart.

## Remediation

- fix: The reporting source identifies this reference as a patch. Check the advisory for affected versions and supported release branches. (source: CNA: VulnCheck) — https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/pull/3019
- fix: The reporting source identifies this reference as a patch. Check the advisory for affected versions and supported release branches. (source: CNA: VulnCheck) — https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/pull/3026
- fix: The reporting source identifies this reference as a patch. Check the advisory for affected versions and supported release branches. (source: CNA: VulnCheck) — https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/commit/6e4831444f972d169cdd11f5c8d50333cea3f19b

## Affected products and versions

- Dana Powers / kafka-python (kafka-python): ≥ 0; < 2.3.2 (affected, git). Source: CNA: VulnCheck

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 7.5 (high); CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H; source: CNA: VulnCheck

- 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; source: CNA: VulnCheck

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.35% as of 2026-11-08; percentile 28.55%

- SSVC: exploitation none; automatable yes; technical impact partial; source ADP: CISA-ADP

- Weaknesses: CWE-789

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/kafka-python-prior-to-denial-of-service-via-protocol-parser-frame-length (CNA: VulnCheck; technical-description, third-party-advisory)

- https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/pull/3019 (CNA: VulnCheck; issue-tracking, patch)

- https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/pull/3026 (CNA: VulnCheck; issue-tracking, patch)

- https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python/commit/6e4831444f972d169cdd11f5c8d50333cea3f19b (CNA: VulnCheck; patch)

## Provenance

- CNA: VulnCheck: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-10142; retrieved 2026-11-08; source updated 2026-11-08

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-10142; retrieved 2026-11-08; source updated Not reported

Revision: 1d7ac9002465e90b3ec920d148e63435fbe7bd44346048dce8d3b915ee6d372f

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2026-10142

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