# CVE-2026-44545: Django Daphne denial of service via unlimited WebSocket payload size

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-44545-django-daphne-denial-of-service-via-unlimited-websocket-payload  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-06-03. Updated: 2026-07-11  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-44545 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.3 · Published 2026-06-03

Daphne, a popular web server for Django applications, is vulnerable to a denial-of-service attack. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send extremely large WebSocket messages that consume all available server memory. This can cause the server to crash or become unresponsive, disrupting service for all users.

Vendors: [Django Software Foundation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/django-software-foundation), [PyPI](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/pypi).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-44545 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-44545 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-44545?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.3, published 3 June 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Django Software Foundation Daphne < 4.2.2; daphne (PyPI) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=4.2.2.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-44545?** Yes. daphne (PyPI): upgrade to 4.2.2 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-44545 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-44545?** Check whether you run Django Software Foundation Daphne or daphne (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

- daphne (PyPI): upgrade to 4.2.2 or later

  ```sh
  pip install "daphne>=4.2.2"
  ```


## Technical details

Daphne versions prior to 4.2.2 do not pass 'maxFramePayloadSize' or 'maxMessagePayloadSize' parameters to the underlying Autobahn WebSocketServerFactory. Since Autobahn defaults these values to 0 (unlimited), the server will attempt to buffer WebSocket frames and messages of any size into memory. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this by sending arbitrarily large WebSocket traffic, leading to resource exhaustion (CWE-770) and a denial of service (DoS). The issue is resolved in version 4.2.2 by properly configuring payload limits.

## Affected products

- Django Software Foundation daphne < 4.2.2

## Identifiers

- CVE-2026-44545
- GHSA-rrc9-mx66-ffcm
- PYSEC-2026-213

## Timeline

- 2026-06-03: disclosed
- 2026-06-03: advisory
- 2026-06-03: patched: Fixed in version 4.2.2

## References

- [https://github.com/django/daphne/blob/main/CHANGELOG.txt](https://github.com/django/daphne/blob/main/CHANGELOG.txt)
- [https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/daphne/PYSEC-2026-213.yaml](https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/daphne/PYSEC-2026-213.yaml)

## Related threats

- [Django Daphne header injection in WebSocket handshake](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-44546-django-daphne-header-injection-in-websocket-handshake)