Skip to main content
Mallory
Unrated

Infinite Loop in Apache HTTP Server mod_proxy_ftp proxy_ftp_handler

IdentifiersCVE-2026-44186CWE-835· Loop with Unreachable Exit…

CVE-2026-44186 is a moderate-severity infinite loop vulnerability in Apache HTTP Server's mod_proxy_ftp module, specifically in the proxy_ftp_handler code path. When Apache HTTP Server is configured to proxy FTP traffic and interacts with an attacker-controlled backend FTP server, crafted backend responses can cause the handler to enter a loop with an unreachable exit condition. The issue affects Apache HTTP Server versions 2.4.0 through 2.4.67 and was fixed in 2.4.68.

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 can cause a denial-of-service condition by forcing the affected Apache worker or request-processing path into an infinite loop. This can consume CPU time, hang request handling, and reduce service availability. In deployments where multiple requests can be driven into the vulnerable path, the issue could degrade or exhaust server capacity and disrupt proxied FTP functionality.

Mitigation

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

No specific workaround is provided in the supplied content. The practical mitigation is to avoid using mod_proxy_ftp against untrusted or attacker-controlled backend FTP servers until the server can be upgraded, and to restrict or disable FTP proxying if it is not required.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Apache HTTP Server to version 2.4.68 or later. Apache identified the fix in the 2.4.x branch as revision r1935004 and recommends upgrading affected installations rather than relying on workarounds.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

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
Apache Software FoundationHttp Serverapplication

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.

Infinite Loop in Apache HTTP Server mod_proxy_ftp proxy_ftp_handler (CVE-2026-44186) | Mallory