CVE-2026-59892: OpenTelemetry JavaScript Denial of Service Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-45rx-2jwx-cxfr",
  "modified" : "2026-07-21T19:07:28Z",
  "published" : "2026-07-21T19:07:28Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-59892" ],
  "summary" : "OpenTelemetry JavaScript: Denial of service in `JaegerPropagator` via unhandled exception on a malformed header",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\n`@opentelemetry/propagator-jaeger` decodes incoming HTTP header values with `decodeURIComponent()` without handling decode errors. A single request carrying a malformed percent-encoded value (for example a bare `%`) in an `uber-trace-id` or `uberctx-*` header throws an uncaught `URIError`, terminating any Node.js process that uses `JaegerPropagator` as its active propagator.\n\n\n## Impact\n\n**Denial of Service:** Any unauthenticated remote attacker who can send an HTTP request to a service that has `JaegerPropagator` registered as the global propagator (e.g. via `OTEL_PROPAGATORS=jaeger` or `propagation.setGlobalPropagator(new JaegerPropagator())`) can terminate the process with a single request. Confidentiality and integrity are not affected.\n\n## Am I affected?\n\nThis issue affects only a specific, opt-in configuration. If you use OpenTelemetry's default propagators (W3C TraceContext and Baggage), you are **not** affected.          \n\nYou are affected only if you have registered `JaegerPropagator` as the active propagator. Check for:\n\n- `@opentelemetry/propagator-jaeger` in your dependency tree, **and**\n- `OTEL_PROPAGATORS` set to `jaeger` (Jaeger only), **or** a direct `propagation.setGlobalPropagator(new JaegerPropagator())` call in your code.\n\nNote: if `JaegerPropagator` is combined with other propagators through a `CompositePropagator` (for example `OTEL_PROPAGATORS=jaeger,tracecontext`), the process does not terminate - the composite propagator catches the error - but affected requests silently fail to extract context. You should still upgrade.\n\n\n## Patched versions\n\n- `@opentelemetry/propagator-jaeger` 2.9.0\n\n## Remediation\n\nUpdate `@opentelemetry/propagator-jaeger` to 2.9.0 or later. The propagator now ignores header values it cannot decode instead of throwing.\n\n**Interim mitigation (if you cannot update):** Trace-context headers should never be accepted unfiltered from untrusted callers. Until you can upgrade, strip or validate the `uber-trace-id` and `uberctx-*` headers on inbound requests at your edge - for example with a reverse proxy, API gateway, or load balancer (nginx, Envoy, etc.) - so that only trusted upstream services can set them.\n\n## Details\n\n`JaegerPropagator.extract()` calls `decodeURIComponent()` on raw header values at two unguarded call sites: the `uber-trace-id` trace header and each `uberctx-*` baggage value. `decodeURIComponent()` throws `URIError: URI malformed` on invalid percent-encoding. Because the HTTP instrumentation extracts context before its request-handler error wrapper, and a single configured propagator is not wrapped in a `CompositePropagator` (which would otherwise catch the error), the exception propagates as an `uncaughtException` and terminates the process.\n\n## Proof of concept\n\nAgainst a service using `JaegerPropagator`:\n\n```bash\ncurl -H 'uberctx-user: %' http://target/\n# or\ncurl -H 'uber-trace-id: %' http://target/\n```\n\nThe Node.js process exits with `URIError: URI malformed` and subsequent requests are refused.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "@opentelemetry/propagator-jaeger"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.9.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/security/advisories/GHSA-45rx-2jwx-cxfr"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-59892"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/commit/b1c196d49d54caae59741cca0a9d57d101d7ea88"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/releases/tag/v2.9.0"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-248" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-07-21T19:07:28Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-07-08T17:17:27Z"
  }
}