# CVE-2026-5440: Memory Exhaustion via Unbounded Content-Length

> Attackers can crash the Orthanc DICOM server by sending HTTP requests with excessively large Content-Length headers, causing memory exhaustion.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 14 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-5440, GHSA-826q-ppf7-8g9v, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-5440

## What is CVE-2026-5440?

CVE-2026-5440 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Orthanc DICOM Server, published on 9 Apr 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A memory exhaustion vulnerability exists in the HTTP server due to unbounded use of the `Content-Length` header.  The server allocates memory directly based on the attacker supplied header value without enforcing an upper limit. A crafted HTTP request containing an extremely large `Content-Length` value can trigger excessive memory allocation and server termination, even without sending a request body.

Weakness: CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-5440?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Orthanc-Server Orthanc.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-5440?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-5440 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-5440 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Orthanc DICOM Server

- [CVE-2026-5442](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5442/): Heap Buffer Overflow in DICOM Image Decoder via VR UL Dimensions (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-5443](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5443/): Heap Buffer Overflow in DICOM Image Decoder (Palette Color Decode) (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-0896](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-0896/): Orthanc Server Missing Authentication for Critical Function (critical 9.2)
- [CVE-2026-5445](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5445/): Out-of-Bounds Read in DicomImageDecoder (DecodeLookupTable) (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2023-33466](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-33466/): Path traversal in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-5440 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-5440 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Orthanc DICOM Server, published on 9 Apr 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-2026-5440 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Orthanc DICOM Server. 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-2026-5440/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5440/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-5440
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-5440
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-5440

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5440/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.