# CVE-2026-114138: Django REST framework ReDoS in content negotiation

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-114138-django-rest-framework-is-a-toolkit-for-building-web-apis-prior  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-10-21. Updated: 2026-10-21  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-114138 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.5 · Published 2026-10-21

Django REST framework is a widely-used toolkit for building web APIs. A flaw in how it processes HTTP Accept headers allows an unauthenticated attacker to send specially crafted requests that consume excessive CPU and freeze worker processes, causing the service to become unavailable. An attacker can exploit any reachable API endpoint by crafting malicious Accept headers with large parameter values.

Technologies: [djangorestframework (PyPI)](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/djangorestframework). Vendors: [PyPI](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/pypi).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-114138 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-114138 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-114138?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 21 October 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Django REST Framework before 3.18.2; djangorestframework (PyPI) < 3.18.2, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=3.18.2.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-114138?** Yes. djangorestframework (PyPI): upgrade to 3.18.2 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-114138 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-114138?** Check whether you run Django REST Framework or djangorestframework (PyPI) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- djangorestframework (PyPI): upgrade to 3.18.2 or later

  ```sh
  pip install "djangorestframework>=3.18.2"
  ```


## Technical details

The DefaultContentNegotiation.get_accept_list method in rest_framework/negotiation.py accepts an unbounded number of Accept tokens and repeatedly parses media type parameters via _MediaType in rest_framework/utils/mediatypes.py for each token and renderer. An attacker can send Accept headers with many distinct media types containing large quoted parameter values and numerous semicolons, triggering quadratic parsing behavior in both Django's parameter parser and DRF's repetitive parsing loop, causing CPU exhaustion and worker thread starvation.

## Affected products

- Django REST Framework Django REST Framework before 3.18.2

## Identifiers

- CVE-2026-114138
- GHSA-33wh-fxxf-88vv

## Timeline

- 2026-10-21: disclosed
- 2026-10-06: patched

## References

- [https://github.com/encode/django-rest-framework/commit/148ab6523922d5a0c110f76615935e5220b63029](https://github.com/encode/django-rest-framework/commit/148ab6523922d5a0c110f76615935e5220b63029)
- [https://github.com/encode/django-rest-framework/releases/tag/3.18.2](https://github.com/encode/django-rest-framework/releases/tag/3.18.2)

## Related threats

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- [Django REST framework memory amplification via charset codec](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-114136-django-rest-framework-is-a-toolkit-for-building-web-apis-from-3)
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- [Django REST Framework DATA_UPLOAD_MAX_MEMORY_SIZE bypass in request.data](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-73228-django-rest-framework-data-upload-max-memory-size-bypass-in)
- [PYSEC-2026-1304 - Cross-site Scripting in djangorestframework](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2024-21520-cross-site-scripting-in-djangorestframework)