Medium

Next.js Image Optimization API local image memory exhaustion DoS

IdentifiersCVE-2026-44577CWE-770· Allocation of Resources Without…

CVE-2026-44577 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in Next.js affecting self-hosted deployments that use the default image loader. In affected versions from 10.0.0 before 15.5.16 and before 16.2.5, the Image Optimization API endpoint (/_next/image) fetches local images fully into memory without enforcing a maximum size limit. If an attacker requests a sufficiently large local asset that matches the images.localPatterns configuration, the server can be forced to allocate excessive memory while processing the image. Because images.localPatterns allows all patterns by default, many self-hosted deployments may expose this condition unless explicitly restricted. The issue is described as an image optimizer decompression bomb / memory exhaustion condition and is fixed in 15.5.16 and 16.2.5.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can cause out-of-memory conditions in the Next.js process, resulting in denial of service. Depending on deployment architecture and process supervision, this may crash the application process, trigger repeated restarts, degrade availability, or exhaust host/container memory and affect co-located services.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, prevent large local assets from being reachable through /_next/image. Restrict or disable local image fetching by setting images.localPatterns to an empty array or to a tightly scoped allowlist, avoid routing large or untrusted local files through the optimization API, and block access to such optimization requests at the edge or reverse proxy. Deployments using images.unoptimized: true, images.loader: 'custom', or Vercel-hosted environments are not impacted according to the provided content.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Next.js to a fixed version: 15.5.16 or later on the 15.x branch, or 16.2.5 or later on the 16.x branch. The upstream fix applies response size limits consistently to internal image fetches. Where supported, tune the images.maximumResponseBody setting appropriately as part of hardening.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 1 candidate as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 1 TOTALView more in app

All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

VercelNextapplication

VercelNext.Jsapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

2 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.

2 SOURCESView more in app

No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.

What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity2