CVE-2026-27980 Next.js: Unbounded next/image disk cache growth can exhaust storage
Attackers can exhaust disk space by generating unique image variants, causing denial of service in Next.js applications.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-27980?
CVE-2026-27980 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Vercel Next.js, published on 18 Mar 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Next.js is a React framework for building full-stack web applications. Starting in version 10.0.0 and prior to version 16.1.7, the default Next.js image optimization disk cache (`/_next/image`) did not have a configurable upper bound, allowing unbounded cache growth. An attacker could generate many unique image-optimization variants and exhaust disk space, causing denial of service. This is fixed in version 16.1.7 by adding an LRU-backed disk cache with `images.maximumDiskCacheSize`, including eviction of least-recently-used entries when the limit is exceeded. Setting `maximumDiskCacheSize: 0` disables disk caching. If upgrading is not immediately possible, periodically clean `.next/cache/images` and/or reduce variant cardinality (e.g., tighten values for `images.localPatterns`, `images.remotePatterns`, and `images.qualities`).
Weakness: CWE-400
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-27980?
4 open source packages ship an affected version, including next. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
next npm | From 10.0.0 | 15.5.14 |
next npm | From 10.0.0 | 15.5.14 |
next npm | From 16.0.0-beta.0 | 16.1.7 |
next npm | From 16.0.0-beta.0 | 16.1.7 |
Products include Vercel Next.js.
How do I fix CVE-2026-27980?
Upgrade next to a fixed version for your release line: 15.5.14 or 16.1.7.
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-2026-27980 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-27980 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Vercel Next.js
- CVE-2025-29927 Authorization Bypass in Next.js Middleware
- CVE-2026-44578 Next.js: Server-side request forgery in applications using WebSocket upgrades
- CVE-2026-94483 Next.js: Server-Side Request Forgery in Image Optimization
- CVE-2026-64642 Next.js: Middleware / Proxy bypass in App Router applications using Turbopack and single locale
- CVE-2026-64645 Next.js: Server-Side Request Forgery in rewrites via attacker-controlled destination hostname
Sources
Also known as CLEANSTART-2026-DI49367, CLEANSTART-2026-LS37320, GHSA-3x4c-7xq6-9pq8, MINI-7r6h-fggg-hg3j, MINI-v227-w5cp-m84h, MINI-vpp7-6fjq-88wp and 1 more.