Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in mtrudel bandit allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to pin HTTP/2 stream processes indefinitely via a trickle of small WINDOW_UPDATE frames. A stream whose response outruns the connection or stream send window blocks until the peer grants more window, and each block carries a 15 second deadline. Both deadlines restart whenever the peer makes partial progress. Bandit.HTTP2.Connection.finish_data/5 re-queues a partially advanced send in pending_sends with a fresh expires_at, so every WINDOW_UPDATE on stream 0, and every SETTINGS frame, resets the clock. Bandit.HTTP2.Stream.send_data/3 recurses on each stream WINDOW_UPDATE and re-arms a fresh after read_timeout. A peer that grants a few bytes every few seconds keeps the blocked stream process, its Plug state and any resource it holds mid-response alive for as long as it keeps dripping, and repeats this across streams and connections to exhaust server processes and memory.
The two paths are independent. The stream-level block is reached on its own by widening the connection window with a large WINDOW_UPDATE on stream 0 and shrinking the per-stream window with a small SETTINGS_INITIAL_WINDOW_SIZE, so closing only the connection-level path leaves it exploitable.
This issue affects bandit: from 1.4.0 before 1.13.0.
Weakness
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
Potential Mitigations
Mitigation of resource exhaustion attacks requires that the target system either:
The first of these solutions is an issue in itself though, since it may allow attackers to prevent the use of the system by a particular valid user. If the attacker impersonates the valid user, they may be able to prevent the user from accessing the server in question.
The second solution is simply difficult to effectively institute – and even when properly done, it does not provide a full solution. It simply makes the attack require more resources on the part of the attacker.
Related Attack Patterns
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/147.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/227.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/492.html
References
- https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-105659.html
- https://github.com/mtrudel/bandit/commit/d88b21953c65061f21136ea76a89a4f95a2ac7a1
- https://github.com/mtrudel/bandit/commit/fff06efe3be962b484bd4d3eb339372fda5a231f
- https://github.com/mtrudel/bandit/security/advisories/GHSA-69m6-wcv4-rwcf
- https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-105659
- https://github.com/mtrudel/bandit/security/advisories/GHSA-69m6-wcv4-rwcf