# CVE-2026-67229: RabbitMQ denial of service in vhost metadata import

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-67229-rabbitmq-is-a-messaging-and-streaming-broker-prior-to-versions-3  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-09-23. Updated: 2026-09-26  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-67229 · Severity: info · Published 2026-09-23

RabbitMQ is a messaging broker used to route and manage application messages. An administrator importing a crafted configuration file can crash the RabbitMQ node by exhausting its atom table—a finite resource in Erlang—with millions of unique metadata keys. This results in a denial of service that stops message processing until the node is restarted.

Technologies: [VMware RabbitMQ](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/vmware-rabbitmq). Vendors: [VMware](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/vmware).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-67229 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-67229 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-67229?** Informational severity, published 23 September 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** VMware RabbitMQ before 3.13.15, 4.0.20, 4.1.11, 4.2.6, and 4.3.0.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-67229?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-67229 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a hosted service.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-67229?** Check whether you run VMware RabbitMQ 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 the add_vhost/2 function which unsafely calls rabbit_data_coercion:atomize_keys/1 using binary_to_atom on vhost metadata, allowing arbitrary atom creation. An attacker with administrator credentials can upload a definitions file containing ~1M unique metadata keys (fitting within the 20 MB management body limit) to exhaust the atom table and crash the node. This is a local, authenticated denial of service requiring administrative access to the management API.

## Affected products

- VMware RabbitMQ before 3.13.15, 4.0.20, 4.1.11, 4.2.6, and 4.3.0

## Timeline

- 2026-09-23: disclosed

## References

- [https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.6](https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.6)
- [https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.0](https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.0)

## Related threats

- [RabbitMQ MQTT 5 parser invalid property denial of service](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-67418-rabbitmq-is-a-messaging-and-streaming-broker-from-3-13-0-until-3)
- [RabbitMQ AMQP 1.0 parser descriptor validation bypass](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-67416-rabbitmq-is-a-messaging-and-streaming-broker-from-4-0-0-until-4-0)
- [RabbitMQ AMQP 1.0 parser memory exhaustion](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-67414-rabbitmq-is-a-messaging-and-streaming-broker-from-4-0-0-until-4-0)
- [RabbitMQ Management XSS via queue name in OAuth UI](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-67421-rabbitmq-is-a-messaging-and-streaming-broker-from-3-13-0-until-3)
- [RabbitMQ JMS topic exchange denial of service via regex wildcard expansion](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-67413-rabbitmq-is-a-messaging-and-streaming-broker-from-4-0-0-until-4-0)