DoS via Unbounded JSON in GitHub Enterprise Server <3.21
CVE-2026-7541 Published on May 7, 2026
Denial of service vulnerability in GitHub Enterprise Server allowed service disruption via unauthenticated API endpoint
A denial of service vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise Server that allowed an unauthenticated attacker to cause service disruption by sending crafted requests with deeply nested JSON payloads to an unauthenticated API endpoint. The endpoint parsed user-controlled JSON request bodies without size or depth limits, causing excessive CPU and memory consumption. This vulnerability affected all versions of GitHub Enterprise Server prior to 3.21 and was fixed in versions 3.20.2, 3.19.6, 3.18.9, 3.17.15, and 3.16.18. This vulnerability was reported via the GitHub Bug Bounty program.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2026-7541 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity and availability.
Weakness Type
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
The software allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-7541
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Affected Versions
GitHub Enterprise Server:- Version 3.16.0, <= 3.16.17 is affected.
- Version 3.17.0, <= 3.17.14 is affected.
- Version 3.18.0, <= 3.18.8 is affected.
- Version 3.19.0, <= 3.19.5 is affected.
- Version 3.20.0, <= 3.20.1 is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.