CVE-2026-44500

ZEBRA: Allocation Amplification in Inbound Network Deserializers

MEDIUM
5.3
CVSS Score
Published: May 8, 2026 at 03:10 PM UTC
Updated: October 26, 2026 at 06:10 PM UTC
4 products affected across 2 vendorsZebradZebra ChainZebra Network

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Severity
MEDIUM5.3
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

ZEBRA is a Zcash node written entirely in Rust. Prior to zebrad version 4.4.0, prior to zebra-chain version 7.0.0, and prior to zebra-network version 6.0.0, several inbound deserialization paths in Zebra allocated buffers sized against generic transport or block-size ceilings before the tighter protocol or consensus limits were enforced. An unauthenticated or post-handshake peer could therefore force the node to preallocate and parse for orders of magnitude more data than the protocol intended, across headers messages, equihash solutions in block headers, Sapling spend vectors in V5/V4 transactions, and coinbase script bytes in blocks. This issue has been patched in zebrad version 4.4.0, zebra-chain version 7.0.0, and zebra-network version 6.0.0.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 7.0.0
v < 6.0.0
v < 4.4.0
Affected range stops below 4.4.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 6.0.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 7.0.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (1)

x_refsource_CONFIRMExploitVendor Advisory
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/security/advisories/GHSA-438q-jx8f-cccv

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

5.3MEDIUMGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
LOW
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-770

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