# CVE-2026-73550: Envoy: HTTP/2 Discarded Host Header 200 GB Header-Copy OOM in Envoy

> An unauthenticated attacker can cause an out-of-memory crash in Envoy by exploiting HTTP/2 header copy logic, requiring an upgrade to patched versions.

- **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:** 21 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 28 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** BIT-envoy-2026-73550, GHSA-qgf6-qvhw-4hvh, MINI-4p65-rjhf-78j3, MINI-9mqq-g4fm-q7r3, MINI-hg3q-hv6p-h9c7, MINI-jvr4-8f6q-c4jw

## What is CVE-2026-73550?

CVE-2026-73550 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Envoyproxy Envoy, published on 21 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Envoy is an open source edge and service proxy designed for cloud-native applications. Prior to 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4, and 1.39.1, Envoy copies every decoded HTTP/2 Host header value before discarding it when :authority is already present. The discarded value bypasses saveHeader, so its bytes and count are not charged against request header limits. An unauthenticated client can use HPACK indexing to submit many references to a large Host value across a bounded number of streams, forcing extreme header-copy allocation and causing the proxy to be out-of-memory killed. The relevant scope boundary is that the demonstrated amplification uses HTTP/2 HPACK and the duplicate Host discard behavior. This issue is fixed in versions 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4, and 1.39.1.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-73550?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including envoy. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `envoy` | Bitnami | All versions | 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4, 1.39.1 |

Products: Envoyproxy Envoy.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-73550?

Upgrade envoy to a fixed version for your release line: 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4 or 1.39.1.

## Is CVE-2026-73550 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-73550 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in Envoyproxy Envoy

- [CVE-2022-29226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-29226/): Trivial authentication bypass in Envoy (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2019-18801](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-18801/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-18802](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-18802/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-35470](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-35470/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2024-23324](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23324/): Envoy ext auth can be bypassed when Proxy protocol filter sets invalid UTF-8 metadata (high 8.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-73550 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-73550 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Envoyproxy Envoy, published on 21 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-73550 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- envoy (Bitnami): affected all versions; fixed in 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4, 1.39.1

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-2026-73550/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-73550/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-73550
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-73550
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-73550

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-73550/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.