Skip to content

OpenTelemetry .NET has potential memory exhaustion via unbounded pooled-list sizing in Jaeger exporter conversion path

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Apr 17, 2026 in open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet • Updated Apr 18, 2026

Package

nuget OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Jaeger (NuGet)

Affected versions

<= 1.6.0-rc.1

Patched versions

None

Description

Summary

Important

There is no plan to fix this issue as OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Jaeger was deprecated in 2023. It is for informational purposes only.

OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Jaeger may allow sustained memory pressure when the internal pooled-list sizing grows based on a large observed span/tag set and that enlarged size is reused for subsequent allocations. Under high-cardinality or attacker-influenced telemetry input, this can increase memory consumption and potentially cause denial of service.

Details

The Jaeger exporter conversion path can append tag/event data into pooled list structures. In affected versions, pooled allocation sizing may be influenced by large observed payloads and reused globally across later allocations, resulting in persistent oversized rentals and elevated memory pressure. In environments where telemetry attributes/events can be influenced by untrusted input and limits are increased from defaults, this may lead to process instability or denial of service.

Impact

Availability impact only. Confidentiality and integrity impacts are not expected.

Workarounds / Mitigations

  • Prefer maintained exporters (for example OpenTelemetry Protocol format (OTLP)) instead of the Jaeger exporter.

References

@arminru arminru published to open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet Apr 17, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Apr 18, 2026
Reviewed Apr 18, 2026
Last updated Apr 18, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Weaknesses

Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. Learn more on MITRE.

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-41078

GHSA ID

GHSA-38h3-2333-qx47

Source code

Credits

Loading Checking history
See something to contribute? Suggest improvements for this vulnerability.