Resource exhaustion in Pterodactyl Panel
CVE-2026-61609
Pterodactyl is a free, open-source game server management panel. From 1.7.0 until 1.13.0, the authentication rate limiter defined in RouteServiceProvider::configureRateLimiting() applied a single global bucket to the login and two-factor checkpoint endpoints instead of keying by IP or account: the fall-through Limit::perMinute(10) covering POST /auth/login and POST /auth/login/checkpoint omitted ->by(), so Laravel derived a constant cache key (md5('authentication')) shared by every request. An unauthenticated attacker sending roughly ten requests per minute from a single IP, most cheaply against the checkpoint endpoint (which has no reCAPTCHA), exhausts the shared counter and causes HTTP 429 for every user attempting to log in or complete two-factor authentication, a panel-wide authentication denial of service that also locks out administrators. This issue is fixed in version 1.13.0.
EPSS: 0.004 (32.8th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
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.
Affected products
- Pterodactyl Panel — versions >= 1.7.0, < 1.13.0
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_CONFIRM)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-61609?
- CVE-2026-61609 is a high-severity vulnerability in Pterodactyl Panel, classified under Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-07-28.
- How severe is CVE-2026-61609?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.