Resource exhaustion in Vercel Next.js

CVE-2026-27980

Next.js is a React framework for building full-stack web applications. Starting in version 10.0.0 and prior to version 16.1.7, the default Next.js image optimization disk cache (`/_next/image`) did not have a configurable upper bound, allowing unbounded cache growth. An attacker could generate many unique image-optimization variants and exhaust disk space, causing denial of service. This is fixed in version 16.1.7 by adding an LRU-backed disk cache with `images.maximumDiskCacheSize`, including eviction of least-recently-used entries when the limit is exceeded. Setting `maximumDiskCacheSize: 0` disables disk caching. If upgrading is not immediately possible, periodically clean `.next/cache/images` and/or reduce variant cardinality (e.g., tighten values for `images.localPatterns`, `images.remotePatterns`, and `images.qualities`).

Vulnerability class: DoS (Denial of Service)

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.008 (56.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 56th percentile — 56.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-27980: held from 0.007 to 0.008.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.007 · newest: 0.008 · change: +0.002

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-27980?
CVE-2026-27980 is a high-severity vulnerability in Vercel Next.js, classified under Uncontrolled Resource Consumption. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-03-18.
How severe is CVE-2026-27980?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.