Skip to main content
Mallory
High

Buffer over-read in NGINX ngx_http_scgi_module and ngx_http_uwsgi_module

IdentifiersCVE-2026-42946CWE-125

CVE-2026-42946 is a vulnerability in NGINX's ngx_http_scgi_module and ngx_http_uwsgi_module. When scgi_pass or uwsgi_pass is configured, a state mismatch after an incomplete upstream status-line read can lead to incorrect cross-buffer pointer subtraction during response parsing. Reported consequences include excessive memory allocation with an attacker-influenced key length of roughly 1 TB and buffer over-read behavior. An unauthenticated attacker who can act as a man-in-the-middle and control responses from the upstream SCGI/uWSGI server may trigger the flaw, causing the NGINX worker process to read memory out of bounds or terminate and restart.

Share:
For your environment

Are you exposed to this one?

Mallory correlates every CVE against your assets, your vendors, and active adversary campaigns. Know which vulnerabilities matter for you, not just which ones are loud.

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 may disclose memory from the NGINX worker process and/or cause denial of service by crashing or restarting worker processes. The issue is described as high severity, with memory disclosure possible when a remote unauthenticated attacker can manipulate upstream responses in transit.

Mitigation

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

If immediate patching is not possible, reduce exposure by eliminating opportunities for adversary-in-the-middle control over upstream SCGI/uWSGI responses: place upstream services on trusted networks, use authenticated and integrity-protected transport where possible, and restrict or disable scgi_pass/uwsgi_pass for untrusted or interceptable upstream paths. General hardening should include limiting network paths where upstream traffic can be intercepted and monitoring for worker crashes or anomalous memory-allocation behavior. No specific vendor workaround beyond upgrading was provided in the supplied content.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade NGINX Open Source to a fixed release that includes the May 13, 2026 patches, specifically 1.30.1 on the stable branch or 1.31.0 on the mainline branch, or later fixed versions. Apply the corresponding vendor patches for affected NGINX Plus and downstream packaged distributions. Debian-advised fixed package versions include 1.22.1-9+deb12u8 for bookworm and 1.26.3-3+deb13u6 for trixie.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 3 candidates as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 3 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
F5Nginxapplication
NginxNginxapplication

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

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

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 activity4

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.