CVE-2026-21696 Endless reprocessing/reupload of activity log data due to SQLite max parameters limit not being considered
A low-privileged user can trigger infinite reprocessing of activity logs, exhausting panel database disk space and causing denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-21696?
CVE-2026-21696 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in pterodactyl wings, published on 19 Jan 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Wings is the server control plane for Pterodactyl, a free, open-source game server management panel. Starting in version 1.7.0 and prior to version 1.12.0, Wings does not consider SQLite max parameter limit when processing activity log entries allowing for low privileged user to trigger a condition that floods the panel with activity records. After Wings sends activity logs to the panel it deletes the processed activity entries from the wings SQLite database. However, it does not consider the max parameter limit of SQLite, 32766 as of SQLite 3.32.0. If wings attempts to delete more than 32766 entries from the SQLite database in one query, it triggers an error (SQL logic error: too many SQL variables (1)) and does not remove any entries from the database. These entries are then indefinitely re-processed and resent to the panel each time the cron runs. By successfully exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker can trigger a situation where wings will keep uploading the same activity data to the panel repeatedly (growing each time to include new activity) until the panels' database server runs out of disk space. Version 1.12.0 fixes the issue.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-21696?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/pterodactyl/wings. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
github.com/pterodactyl/wings Go | From 1.7.0 | 1.12.0 |
github.com/pterodactyl/wings Go | From 1.7.0 | 1.12.0 |
github.com/pterodactyl/wings Go | From 1.7.0 | 1.12.0 |
Products include Pterodactyl Wings.
How do I fix CVE-2026-21696?
Upgrade github.com/pterodactyl/wings to 1.12.0 or later.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-21696 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-21696 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in pterodactyl wings
- CVE-2024-27102 Improper isolation of server file access in github.com/pterodactyl/wings
- CVE-2023-25168 Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following allowing the deletion of files and directories on the host system in wings
- CVE-2023-32080 Wings vulnerable to escape to host from installation container
- CVE-2024-34066 Arbitrary File Write/Read in Pterodactyl wings
- CVE-2023-25152 Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following in github.com/pterodactyl/wings
Sources
Also known as GHSA-2497-gp99-2m74, GO-2026-4329.