CVE-2026-22040
Received Received - Intake
Heap Memory Corruption in NanoMQ Broker Causes Crash

Publication date: 2026-03-04

Last updated on: 2026-03-18

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description
NanoMQ MQTT Broker (NanoMQ) is an all-around Edge Messaging Platform. In version 0.24.6, by generating a combined traffic pattern of high-frequency publishes and rapid reconnect/kick-out using the same ClientID and massive subscribe/unsubscribe jitter, it is possible to reliably trigger heap memory corruption in the Broker process, causing it to exit immediately with SIGABRT due to free(): invalid pointer. As of time of publication, no known patched versions are available.
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
Probability:
Percentile:
Meta Information
Published
2026-03-04
Last Modified
2026-03-18
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2026-03-05
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2026-22040
EUVD
EUVD-2026-9497
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
emqx nanomq to 0.24.6 (exc)
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
KEV Icon
CWE ID Description
CWE-416 The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Quick Actions
Instant insights powered by AI
Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in NanoMQ MQTT Broker version 0.24.6. By generating a specific traffic pattern involving high-frequency publishes combined with rapid reconnects or kick-outs using the same ClientID, along with massive subscribe/unsubscribe jitter, an attacker can reliably trigger heap memory corruption in the Broker process.

This heap memory corruption causes the Broker process to immediately exit with a SIGABRT signal due to an invalid pointer error during memory free operations.

As of the publication date, no patched versions are available to fix this issue.

Impact Analysis

The vulnerability can cause the NanoMQ Broker process to crash unexpectedly, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.

This means that legitimate clients relying on the Broker for message delivery and communication may experience interruptions or loss of service.

Since the Broker exits immediately upon exploitation, it could impact system availability and reliability.

Compliance Impact

I don't know

Detection Guidance

I don't know

Mitigation Strategies

As of the time of publication, no known patched versions are available for this vulnerability.

Therefore, immediate mitigation steps should focus on avoiding the triggering conditions, such as preventing combined traffic patterns of high-frequency publishes, rapid reconnect/kick-out using the same ClientID, and massive subscribe/unsubscribe jitter.

Chat Assistant
Ask questions about this CVE
Hi! I’m here to help you understand CVE-2026-22040. Ask me anything about the vulnerability, its impact, or mitigation strategies.
0/70
EPSS Chart