# CVE-2026-102509: Apache PLC4X, Apache PLC4X: Pre-authentication resource exhaustion in the OPC UA driver and the Java SPI parser > A malicious device can cause denial of service in Apache PLC4X clients via resource exhaustion during pre-authentication OPC UA handshake. - **Severity:** High 8.7 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Not needed - **Attackable:** Over the internet - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** No - **Published:** 30 Sep 2026 - **Updated:** 30 Sep 2026 - **Also known as:** GHSA-c34c-r8hh-6grp ## What is CVE-2026-102509? CVE-2026-102509 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Apache PLC4X, published on 30 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. ### Official description Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value, Allocation of Resources Without Limits, and Uncontrolled Recursion in the Java implementation of Apache PLC4X (PLC4J) allow a malicious or impersonated device to exhaust the memory or stack of the client application, causing a denial of service. In the OPC UA driver these defects are reachable before authentication: the offending data is parsed while the secure channel and session are being established, before the server's identity has been bound to it. Configuring a trusted server therefore does not prevent exploitation by an attacker who can impersonate it. The individual defects are: - Length-prefixed byte strings are allocated at the size claimed on the wire before the length is checked against the data actually received (0.10.0 through 0.13.1). - Array fields in generated protocol parsers pre-allocate a list with the element count claimed on the wire, allowing a single count field to trigger a multi-gigabyte allocation. This parser is shared by all PLC4J drivers; the OPC UA driver is the verified pre-authentication path (0.10.0 through 0.13.1). - The OPC UA driver accumulates message chunks without enforcing the negotiated maximum chunk count and message size (0.12.0 through 0.13.1). - The OPC UA driver pre-allocates collections using element counts received from the server (0.10.0 through 0.13.1). - Recursive protocol types are parsed without a nesting-depth limit. The same defect in the Go implementation is covered by CVE-2026-102510 https://cveprocess.apache.org/cve5/CVE-2026-102510 . This issue affects Apache PLC4X: from 0.10.0 before 1.0.0. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 1.0.0, which fixes the issue. Weakness: CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling), CWE-789 (Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value), CWE-674 (Uncontrolled Recursion) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-102509? ## How do I fix CVE-2026-102509? No fix has been published for CVE-2026-102509 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. ## Is CVE-2026-102509 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-102509 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2026-102509 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2026-102509 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Apache PLC4X, published on 30 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-102509 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Apache PLC4X. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page. Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-102509/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-102509/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-102509 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-102509 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-102509 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-102509/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.