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CVE Record

CVE-2026-26999: Traefik: tcp router clears read deadlines before tls forwarding, enabling stalled handshakes (slowloris doS)

Traefik is an HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer. Prior to versions 2.11.38 and 3.6.9, there is a potential vulnerability in Traefik managing TLS handshake on TCP routers. When Traefik processes a TLS connection on a TCP router, the read deadline used to bound protocol sniffing is cleared before the TLS handshake is completed. When a TLS handshake read error occurs, the code attempts a second handshake with different connection parameters, silently ignoring the initial error. A remote unauthenticated client can exploit this by sending an incomplete TLS record and stopping further data transmission, causing the TLS handshake to stall indefinitely and holding connections open. By opening many such stalled connections in parallel, an attacker can exhaust file descriptors and goroutines, degrading availability of all services on the affected entrypoint. This issue has been patched in versions 2.11.38 and 3.6.9.

HighCVSS 7.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2026-26999 is an availability flaw in Traefik TCP routing. An unauthenticated remote client can hold TLS handshakes open, consuming connection resources until services behind the affected entrypoint degrade or become unavailable. The issue is patched in Traefik 2.11.38 and 3.6.9.

Executive priority

Treat this as a high-priority availability risk for public Traefik TCP/TLS services. It does not indicate data theft or code execution, but it can disrupt all services on an affected entrypoint. Patch exposed edge systems first.

Technical view

Before 2.11.38 and 3.6.9, Traefik TCP routers cleared a read deadline before TLS handshake completion. If the first handshake read failed, Traefik retried with different connection parameters and ignored the initial error. Incomplete TLS input could stall indefinitely, consuming file descriptors and goroutines. CVSS is 7.5, mapped to CWE-400 and CWE-772.

Likely exposure

Most likely exposed are Traefik deployments using TCP routers with TLS on internet-facing or untrusted entrypoints. The bundle identifies Traefik versions below 2.11.38 and below 3.6.9 as affected. Exposure for packaged distributions should be checked against vendor advisories.

Exploitation context

The source bundle supports remote, unauthenticated, low-complexity denial of service against affected TCP/TLS entrypoints. KEV is false, and the provided sources do not state active exploitation or confirmed public weaponization.

Researcher notes

The key behavior is deadline removal before TLS handshake completion plus a retry path that ignores the first read error. Validate affectedness through version and TCP/TLS router configuration, not by assuming all Traefik HTTP reverse-proxy deployments are exposed.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade Traefik 2.x deployments to 2.11.38 or later.
  • Upgrade Traefik 3.x deployments to 3.6.9 or later.
  • Apply Red Hat advisory updates where Traefik is consumed through Red Hat packages.
  • Prioritize externally reachable TCP routers using TLS.
  • Monitor vendor advisories for any additional mitigations or backports.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Traefik versions across production, staging, and edge environments.
  • Identify TCP routers with TLS enabled on exposed entrypoints.
  • Confirm upgraded instances report version 2.11.38, 3.6.9, or later.
  • Review availability metrics for abnormal long-lived TLS connections.
  • Check vendor package status against Red Hat or upstream advisories.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
9

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-400: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-772: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-26999 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

2CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
2ADP providers
8Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: yesTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

2 official scores

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H3.93.6GitHub_M
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H3.93.6redhat-SADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

7.5High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2026-26999Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Made public.

  3. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  4. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Reported to Red Hat.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
redhat-SADPgithub.com/traefik/traefik: Traefik: Denial of Service due to incomplete TLS handshake
other:Red Hat severity ratingcvssV3_1
  • 2026-03-05T19:01:09.939Z: Reported to Red Hat.
  • 2026-03-05T16:15:36.437Z: Made public.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
traefiktraefik< 2.11.38, < 3.6.9Listed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-400 · source CWE mapping

Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Uncontrolled Resource Consumption represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

CWE-772 · source CWE mapping

Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime

Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.