# CVE-2026-118259: opentelemetry-java: Quadratic CPU consumption in W3C tracestate parsing

Status: published. Published: 2026-10-28. Updated: 2026-11-02.

opentelemetry-java is the Java implementation of the OpenTelemetry API for recording telemetry, and SDK for managing telemetry recorded by the API. Prior to 1.67.0, W3CTraceContextPropagator.extract() uses regex delimiter processing that can exhibit quadratic backtracking while parsing tracestate headers containing long runs of spaces or tabs without a following comma. An unauthenticated attacker whose headers reach extraction can repeatedly block request or event-loop threads and cause excessive CPU consumption, with practical impact bounded by ingress header-size limits, proxy configuration, and threading. This issue is fixed in version 1.67.0.

## Remediation

- fix: io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-api (Maven): OSV reports a fixed version 1.67.0. Check the advisory for supported release branches. (source: OSV GHSA-ccrj-gw8r-854m) — https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-ccrj-gw8r-854m

## Affected products and versions

- open-telemetry / opentelemetry-java: < 1.67.0 (affected). Source: CNA: GitHub_M
-  / io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-api (io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-api): 0.10.0 (affected, Maven); 0.11.0 (affected, Maven); 0.12.0 (affected, Maven); 0.13.0 (affected, Maven); 0.13.1 (affected, Maven); 0.14.0 (affected, Maven); 0.14.1 (affected, Maven); 0.15.0 (affected, Maven); 0.16.0 (affected, Maven); 0.17.0 (affected, Maven); 0.17.1 (affected, Maven); 0.2.0 (affected, Maven); 0.2.1 (affected, Maven); 0.2.4 (affected, Maven); 0.3.0 (affected, Maven); 0.4.0 (affected, Maven); 0.4.1 (affected, Maven); 0.5.0 (affected, Maven); 0.6.0 (affected, Maven); 0.7.0 (affected, Maven); 0.7.1 (affected, Maven); 0.8.0 (affected, Maven); 0.9.0 (affected, Maven); 0.9.1 (affected, Maven); 1.0.0 (affected, Maven); 1.0.1 (affected, Maven); 1.1.0 (affected, Maven); 1.10.0 (affected, Maven); 1.10.0-rc.1 (affected, Maven); 1.10.0-rc.2 (affected, Maven); 1.10.1 (affected, Maven); 1.11.0 (affected, Maven); 1.12.0 (affected, Maven); 1.13.0 (affected, Maven); 1.14.0 (affected, Maven); 1.15.0 (affected, Maven); 1.16.0 (affected, Maven); 1.17.0 (affected, Maven); 1.18.0 (affected, Maven); 1.19.0 (affected, Maven); 1.2.0 (affected, Maven); 1.20.0 (affected, Maven); 1.20.1 (affected, Maven); 1.21.0 (affected, Maven); 1.22.0 (affected, Maven); 1.23.0 (affected, Maven); 1.23.1 (affected, Maven); 1.24.0 (affected, Maven); 1.25.0 (affected, Maven); 1.26.0 (affected, Maven); 1.27.0 (affected, Maven); 1.28.0 (affected, Maven); 1.29.0 (affected, Maven); 1.3.0 (affected, Maven); 1.30.0 (affected, Maven); 1.30.1 (affected, Maven); 1.31.0 (affected, Maven); 1.32.0 (affected, Maven); 1.33.0 (affected, Maven); 1.34.0 (affected, Maven); 1.34.1 (affected, Maven); 1.35.0 (affected, Maven); 1.36.0 (affected, Maven); 1.37.0 (affected, Maven); 1.38.0 (affected, Maven); 1.39.0 (affected, Maven); 1.4.0 (affected, Maven); 1.4.1 (affected, Maven); 1.40.0 (affected, Maven); 1.41.0 (affected, Maven); 1.42.0 (affected, Maven); 1.42.1 (affected, Maven); 1.43.0 (affected, Maven); 1.44.0 (affected, Maven); 1.44.1 (affected, Maven); 1.45.0 (affected, Maven); 1.46.0 (affected, Maven); 1.47.0 (affected, Maven); 1.48.0 (affected, Maven); 1.49.0 (affected, Maven); 1.5.0 (affected, Maven); 1.50.0 (affected, Maven); 1.51.0 (affected, Maven); 1.52.0 (affected, Maven); 1.53.0 (affected, Maven); 1.54.0 (affected, Maven); 1.54.1 (affected, Maven); 1.55.0 (affected, Maven); 1.56.0 (affected, Maven); 1.57.0 (affected, Maven); 1.58.0 (affected, Maven); 1.59.0 (affected, Maven); 1.6.0 (affected, Maven); 1.60.0 (affected, Maven); 1.60.1 (affected, Maven); 1.61.0 (affected, Maven); 1.62.0 (affected, Maven); 1.63.0 (affected, Maven); 1.64.0 (affected, Maven); 1.65.0 (affected, Maven); 1.66.0 (affected, Maven); 1.7.0 (affected, Maven); 1.7.1 (affected, Maven); 1.9.0 (affected, Maven); 1.9.1 (affected, Maven); Ecosystem version events: introduced 0; fixed 1.67.0. Source: OSV GHSA-ccrj-gw8r-854m

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 5.3 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L; source: CNA: GitHub_M

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.49% as of 2026-11-02; percentile 42.15%

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

- Weaknesses: CWE-1333

## Exploit evidence

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

## References

- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/security/advisories/GHSA-ccrj-gw8r-854m (CNA: GitHub_M; x_refsource_CONFIRM)

- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/pull/8914 (CNA: GitHub_M; x_refsource_MISC)

- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/commit/ba4dfea91647d1ef596975db5d7197681df3c0f5 (CNA: GitHub_M; x_refsource_MISC)

- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/commit/cc4f5f22aed0d69369941cde8029e73507cf438f (CNA: GitHub_M; x_refsource_MISC)

- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/releases/tag/v1.67.0 (CNA: GitHub_M; x_refsource_MISC)

- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-ccrj-gw8r-854m (OSV / GitHub Security Advisories; advisory)

- https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-ccrj-gw8r-854m (OSV / GitHub Security Advisories; osv)

## Provenance

- CNA: GitHub_M: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-118259; retrieved 2026-11-02; source updated 2026-11-02

- OSV / GitHub Security Advisories: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-ccrj-gw8r-854m; retrieved 2026-11-02; source updated 2026-10-28

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-118259; retrieved 2026-11-02; source updated Not reported

Revision: 2a824acd3f14a5451ff68adecb222d2b0b6bc107051632de8f9fef6d4e81c025

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2026-118259

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