CVE-2026-82397
highpriority · track · 0EPSS 0.003 · 28 %ileDEUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
Tornado is a Python web framework and asynchronous networking library. Prior to 6.5.8, Tornado parses application/x-www-form-urlencoded request bodies with urllib.parse.parse_qs in tornado/escape.py without passing max_num_fields. RequestHandler._execute in tornado/web.py parses the body before handler dispatch through HTTPServerRequest._parse_body and parse_body_arguments in tornado/httputil.py, so an unauthenticated request body containing millions of separator-delimited fields can synchronously stall the single-threaded event loop and delay every connection. The body is bounded only by max_buffer_size, which defaults to 104857600 bytes. This issue is fixed in version 6.5.8.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 6.9–7.5
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (10)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Supportall versionscert_bundDEcpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.4_advanced_mission_critical_update_support
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-Onall versionscert_bundDEcpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.4_extended_update_support_long-life_add-on
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Supportall versionscert_bundDEcpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.6_advanced_mission_critical_update_support
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-Onall versionscert_bundDEcpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.6_extended_update_support_long-life_add-on
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Serviceall versionscert_bundDEcpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.8_telecommunications_update_service
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutionsall versionscert_bundDEcpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.8_update_services_for_sap_solutions
advisories (3)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- WID-SEC-W-2026-4029Red Hat Enterprise Linux (python-tornado, resteasy-core, bubblewrap, pgvector): Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-10-19csaf · cert_bundDE
Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Red Hat Enterprise Linux ausnutzen, um Sicherheitsvorkehrungen zu umgehen, beliebigen Code auszuführen, Daten zu manipulieren und offenzulegen oder einen Denial-of-Service-Angriff auszulösen.
- GHSA-mpf4-983q-p7j4 Tornado: Urlencoded body parsing omits max_num_fields, so one request can stall the event loop2026-09-02ghsa · osvUS
## Summary Tornado parses `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` bodies with `urllib.parse.parse_qs` and does not pass `max_num_fields`. A body made almost entirely of separators produces tens of millions of fields, and the parse happens on the event loop before the handler runs, so a single request stalls the whole server. ## Where it is `tornado/escape.py`, at HEAD `e530031405e2154654dedc4c84d5656b557ea310`: ```python result = urllib.parse.parse_qs( qs, keep_blank_values, strict_parsing, encoding="latin1", errors="strict" ) ``` `max_num_fields` is the parameter CPython added for exactly this, and it is absent. The path to it is entirely server-side and pre-dispatch. `RequestHandler._execute` parses the body at `tornado/web.py:1821`, which reaches `HTTPServerRequest._parse_body` at `tornado/httputil.py:636`, and the urlencoded branch of `parse_body_arguments` calls `parse_qs_bytes` at `tornado/httputil.py:1030`. The size that reaches it is bounded only by the body cap, which defaults to the stream's `max_buffer_size` of 104857600 at `tornado/iostream.py:239`, applied as the request body default at `tornado/http1connection.py:136-140`. A 100 MB body of separators is around fifty million fields. ## Impact Denial of service against the whole process, not one request. Tornado is single-threaded and the parse is synchronous on the event loop, so every other connection waits. No authentication is needed if any route accepts a form post, which is the normal case. ## Suggested fix Pass a bound: ```python result = urllib.parse.parse_qs( qs, keep_blank_values, strict_parsing, encoding="latin1", errors="strict", max_num_fields=max_num_fields, ) ``` with a conservative default and a way for applications to raise it. CPython raises `ValueError` when the limit is exceeded, which maps cleanly onto a 400. Lowering the default body cap for urlencoded specifically would help too, since 100 MB of form fields is not a shape any real client sends. ## Why I do not think this is a duplicate The published tornado advisories cover out-of-bounds access in the C extension, unbounded accumulation of decompressed chunks in `AsyncHTTPClient`, the Authorization header surviving cross-origin redirects, credential leakage on curl handle reuse, and cookie attribute validation. The decompression one is the nearest in spirit and is on the client side; this is the server parsing a request body. The call is unchanged at HEAD.
- PYSEC-2026-3928 Tornado: Urlencoded body parsing omits max_num_fields, so one request can stall the event loop2026-09-10vendor · osvUS
## Summary Tornado parses `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` bodies with `urllib.parse.parse_qs` and does not pass `max_num_fields`. A body made almost entirely of separators produces tens of millions of fields, and the parse happens on the event loop before the handler runs, so a single request stalls the whole server. ## Where it is `tornado/escape.py`, at HEAD `e530031405e2154654dedc4c84d5656b557ea310`: ```python result = urllib.parse.parse_qs( qs, keep_blank_values, strict_parsing, encoding="latin1", errors="strict" ) ``` `max_num_fields` is the parameter CPython added for exactly this, and it is absent. The path to it is entirely server-side and pre-dispatch. `RequestHandler._execute` parses the body at `tornado/web.py:1821`, which reaches `HTTPServerRequest._parse_body` at `tornado/httputil.py:636`, and the urlencoded branch of `parse_body_arguments` calls `parse_qs_bytes` at `tornado/httputil.py:1030`. The size that reaches it is bounded only by the body cap, which defaults to the stream's `max_buffer_size` of 104857600 at `tornado/iostream.py:239`, applied as the request body default at `tornado/http1connection.py:136-140`. A 100 MB body of separators is around fifty million fields. ## Impact Denial of service against the whole process, not one request. Tornado is single-threaded and the parse is synchronous on the event loop, so every other connection waits. No authentication is needed if any route accepts a form post, which is the normal case. ## Suggested fix Pass a bound: ```python result = urllib.parse.parse_qs( qs, keep_blank_values, strict_parsing, encoding="latin1", errors="strict", max_num_fields=max_num_fields, ) ``` with a conservative default and a way for applications to raise it. CPython raises `ValueError` when the limit is exceeded, which maps cleanly onto a 400. Lowering the default body cap for urlencoded specifically would help too, since 100 MB of form fields is not a shape any real client sends. ## Why I do not think this is a duplicate The published tornado advisories cover out-of-bounds access in the C extension, unbounded accumulation of decompressed chunks in `AsyncHTTPClient`, the Authorization header surviving cross-origin redirects, credential leakage on curl handle reuse, and cookie attribute validation. The decompression one is the nearest in spirit and is on the client side; this is the server parsing a request body. The call is unchanged at HEAD.
also known as (2)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (4) nvd
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
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