# CVE-2026-85442: MOOS core-moos through 10.4.0 MOOSDB Denial of Service via Unbounded Packet Allocation

> Unauthenticated attackers can cause denial of service in MOOSDB by sending crafted packets that trigger unbounded memory allocation.

- **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:** 3 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 4 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7vgj-fwc9-r6gh

## What is CVE-2026-85442?

CVE-2026-85442 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in themoos core-moos, published on 3 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

MOOS core-moos through 10.4.0 fails to validate packet length declarations in CMOOSCommPkt::OnBytesWritten(), allowing unauthenticated attackers to trigger unbounded buffer allocation by sending crafted wire packets. Attackers can send packets with large declared lengths to exhaust server memory and cause denial of service before client authentication completes.

Weakness: CWE-789 (Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-85442?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Themoos Core-Moos.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-85442?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-85442 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-85442 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-85442 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in themoos core-moos

- [CVE-2026-85424](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85424/): MOOS core-moos through 10.4.0 Missing Authentication for MOOSDB Publish, Subscribe and DB_CLEAR (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-85428](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85428/): MOOS core-moos through 10.4.0 MOOSDB HTTP Server Unauthenticated Variable Write (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-85440](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85440/): MOOS core-moos through 10.4.0 MOOSDB Pre-Authentication Heap Overflow via Negative Packet Length (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-85432](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85432/): MOOS core-moos through 10.4.0 MOOSDB Message Source Spoofing via Wire Identity (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-85455](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85455/): MOOS core-moos through 10.4.0 MOOSDB Out-of-Bounds Read via Short Packet (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-85442 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-85442 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in themoos core-moos, published on 3 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-2026-85442 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: themoos core-moos. 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-2026-85442/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85442/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-85442
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-85442
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-85442

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85442/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.