# CVE-2026-50274: Datadog dd-trace-go denial of service in W3C baggage header parsing

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-50274-datadog-dd-trace-go-denial-of-service-in-w3c-baggage-header  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-07-17. Updated: 2026-07-17  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-50274 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.5 · Published 2026-07-17

Datadog's Go tracing library, used for monitoring application performance, contains a flaw in how it processes certain web request headers. An unauthenticated attacker can send specially crafted headers that force the application to consume excessive CPU and memory. This can lead to a denial-of-service (DoS) condition, making the affected web service unavailable to legitimate users.

Vendors: [Datadog](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/datadog), [Go](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/go).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-50274 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-50274 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-50274?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 17 July 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Datadog Dd-Trace-Go < 2.8.1, <= 1.24.1; Datadog Dd-Trace-Go/V2 < 2.8.1; github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go (Go) <= 1.24.1, SEMVER:introduced=0, SEMVER:introduced=0,last_affected=1.24.1; github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/v2 (Go) < 2.8.1, SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=2.8.1.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-50274?** Yes. github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/v2 (Go): upgrade to 2.8.1 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-50274 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-50274?** Check whether you run Datadog Dd-Trace-Go, Datadog Dd-Trace-Go/V2, github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go (Go) or one of the others listed 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

- github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/v2 (Go): upgrade to 2.8.1 or later

  ```sh
  go get github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/v2@v2.8.1
  ```


## Technical details

The Datadog dd-trace-go library prior to version 2.8.1 fails to enforce DD_TRACE_BAGGAGE_MAX_ITEMS and DD_TRACE_BAGGAGE_MAX_BYTES limits during the extraction of W3C baggage headers. While these limits were enforced during injection, the extraction path in (*propagatorBaggage).extractTextMap would allocate hash-map entries for every key-value pair provided in the header. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this by sending a request with an arbitrarily large number of comma-separated pairs or a single massive value, leading to unbounded CPU and memory consumption. This results in a Denial of Service (DoS) for any HTTP service where baggage propagation is enabled (which is often the default). The issue is resolved in version 2.8.1.

## Affected products

- Datadog dd-trace-go < 2.8.1

## Identifiers

- CVE-2026-50274
- GHSA-74j5-xf3v-crq8
- GO-2026-6000

## Timeline

- 2026-05-04: patched: Fix merged into main branch
- 2026-05-05: other: Version 2.8.1 released
- 2026-06-05: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published
- 2026-07-17: disclosed: CVE published to NVD

## References

- [https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/commit/192712ba0291b2e89166259111ebb5e90c8f52df](https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/commit/192712ba0291b2e89166259111ebb5e90c8f52df)
- [https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/pull/4720](https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/pull/4720)
- [https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/releases/tag/v2.8.1](https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/releases/tag/v2.8.1)
- [https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/security/advisories/GHSA-74j5-xf3v-crq8](https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/security/advisories/GHSA-74j5-xf3v-crq8)