# CVE-2026-45766: Suricata NFS parser unbounded state memory exhaustion

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-45766-suricata-nfs-parser-unbounded-state-memory-exhaustion  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-09-10. Updated: 2026-09-26  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-45766 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.5 · Published 2026-09-10

Suricata is a widely-deployed open-source network security monitoring engine used to detect and prevent network-based threats. A vulnerability in its NFS protocol parser allows attackers to craft malicious NFS traffic that causes excessive memory consumption, potentially crashing the security system and causing denial of service. Organizations relying on Suricata for network intrusion detection would lose visibility into malicious traffic during an attack.

Technologies: [OISF Suricata](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/suricata). Vendors: [OISF](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/oisf).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-45766 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-45766 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-45766?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 10 September 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** OISF Suricata before 7.0.16 and before 8.0.5.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-45766?** A patch was published on 2026-05-19: Versions 7.0.16 and 8.0.5 released Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-45766 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a hosted service.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-45766?** Check whether you run OISF Suricata 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.

## Technical details

The vulnerability exists in Suricata's NFS application-layer parser, where certain state structures lack proper bounds checking (CWE-400, CWE-770). Attackers can send crafted NFS traffic over the network without authentication to trigger unbounded memory allocation in these stateful parser structures. This results in memory exhaustion and denial of service, causing Suricata to become unresponsive or crash. The attack requires only network reachability to the Suricata instance and no special privileges or user interaction. Patches are available in Suricata 7.0.16 and 8.0.5; a workaround is to disable NFS application-layer parsing if not required.

## Affected products

- OISF Suricata before 7.0.16 and before 8.0.5

## Timeline

- 2026-05-19: disclosed
- 2026-05-19: patched: Versions 7.0.16 and 8.0.5 released

## References

- [https://forum.suricata.io/t/suricata-8-0-5-and-7-0-16-released/6315](https://forum.suricata.io/t/suricata-8-0-5-and-7-0-16-released/6315)
- [https://github.com/OISF/suricata/security/advisories/GHSA-jqr4-ch38-wvm6](https://github.com/OISF/suricata/security/advisories/GHSA-jqr4-ch38-wvm6)

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