CVE-2026-116174

vLLM 0.22.0 before 0.24.0 Denial of Service via Rust gRPC Generate

Published Oct 25, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 8.2 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed

Description

vLLM from 0.22.0 before 0.24.0 contains an improper input validation vulnerability in the Rust gRPC Generate and GenerateStream service that forwards unchecked prompt token IDs to EngineCore. Attackers can submit requests with out-of-vocabulary prompt.token_ids values to trigger a fatal embedding lookup failure that terminates EngineCore and leaves the server unhealthy.

Analysis

Technical impact

An improper input validation flaw exists in the Rust gRPC Generate and GenerateStream services of vLLM versions 0.22.0 through 0.23.x. The services forward unvalidated prompt token IDs directly to EngineCore. When an attacker supplies out‑of‑vocabulary token IDs, EngineCore throws a fatal embedding lookup exception that terminates the engine, causing the server to become unhealthy. The failure manifests as a denial of service, preventing normal request handling until the process is restarted. The flaw maps to CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) and to CWE-1285.

Affected Systems

Affected vendor: vllm‑project; product: vllm. The vulnerability applies to all releases from version 0.22.0 up to, but not including, 0.24.0. No official patch is available for earlier releases, and the CVE document does not specify a specific sub‑release.

Risk and Exploitability

With a base score of 8.2, the CVSS metric classifies the issue as high severity. The EPSS score is unavailable, and the vulnerability has not yet been reported in CISA’s KEV catalog, indicating no known widespread exploitation. Attackers can trigger the fault remotely by sending crafted gRPC Generate/GenerateStream requests if they can reach the server, which is typically exposed on a network. Because the fault is deterministic and does not require elevated privileges, any authenticated or unauthenticated access to the gRPC endpoint can lead to a denial of service. The vulnerability is rooted in CWE-20 and CWE-1285.

Affected Products

Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).

Vendor Product Default status Versions

vllm-project

vllm

unaffected

Version	Status	Constraints
`0.22.0`	affected	< 0.24.0
`0.24.0`	unaffected	—

Configuration 1 [-]

cpe:2.3:a:vllm:vllm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

No data.

Vendor Product Versions

Vllm

Version	Status	Scheme	Platform
`[0.22.0,0.24.0)`	affected	semver	—
`0.24.0`	unaffected	semver	—

Vllm-project

Vllm

Version	Status	Scheme	Platform
`[0.22.0,0.24.0)`	affected	semver	—
`0.24.0`	unaffected	semver	—

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

Upgrade vllm to version 0.24.0 or later.
Restrict or block external access to the gRPC Generate and GenerateStream endpoints until the upgrade can be performed.
Configure process monitoring to restart EngineCore automatically and alert on crashes.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on October 26, 2026 at 01:21 UTC.

Tracking

Advisories

No advisories available

Metrics

Attack Vector Network

Attack Complexity High

Privileges Required None

Attack Requirements Present

User Interaction None

Vulnerable System Confidentiality Impact None

Vulnerable System Integrity Impact None

Vulnerable System Availability Impact High

Subsequent System Confidentiality Impact None

Subsequent System Integrity Impact None

Subsequent System Availability Impact None

Attack Vector Network

Attack Complexity High

Privileges Required None

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact None

Integrity Impact None

Availability Impact High

User Interaction None

No CVSS v3.0

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

Exploit prediction score: < 1% (0.277% probability within 30 days)

Exploitation none

Automatable no

Technical Impact partial

References

Link	Providers
https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/security/advisories/GHSA-w2v2-5662-8v5q
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-116174
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-116174
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/vllm-0.22.0-before-0.24.0-denial-of-service-via-rust-grpc-generate

History

Oct 30, 2026 7:30 AM Scoring metrics updated View changes

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Metrics		ssvc `{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}`

Oct 26, 2026 12:30 AM Weaknesses updated. Added references. Scoring metrics updated View changes

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Weaknesses		CWE-1285
References		https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-116174 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-116174
Metrics	threat_severity `None`	threat_severity `Moderate`

Oct 25, 2026 8:30 PM First appearance in the feed. Affected vendors updated View changes

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
First Time appeared		Vllm-project Vllm-project vllm
Vendors & Products		Vllm-project Vllm-project vllm

Oct 25, 2026 1:45 PM Description updated. Title updated. First appearance in the feed. Weaknesses updated. Affected versions updated. Affected vendors updated. Added references. Scoring metrics updated View changes

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Description		vLLM from 0.22.0 before 0.24.0 contains an improper input validation vulnerability in the Rust gRPC Generate and GenerateStream service that forwards unchecked prompt token IDs to EngineCore. Attackers can submit requests with out-of-vocabulary prompt.token_ids values to trigger a fatal embedding lookup failure that terminates EngineCore and leaves the server unhealthy.
Title		vLLM 0.22.0 before 0.24.0 Denial of Service via Rust gRPC Generate
First Time appeared		Vllm Vllm vllm
Weaknesses		CWE-20
CPEs		cpe:2.3:a:vllm:vllm::::::::
Vendors & Products		Vllm Vllm vllm
References		https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/security/advisories/GHSA-w2v2-5662-8v5q https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/vllm-0.22.0-before-0.24.0-denial-of-service-via-rust-grpc-generate
Metrics		cvssV3_1 `{'score': 5.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}` cvssV4_0 `{'score': 8.2, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}`