A remote attacker can open many HTTP connections to the openstack-network-exporter service and send header bytes very slowly. Because the server does not enforce read header or read timeouts, each incomplete request consumes a file descriptor and stays open until the attacker stops sending data. Over time the server exhausts its available descriptors, preventing legitimate Prometheus clients from retrieving metrics and causing a denial of service.

The flaw applies to Red Hat OpenStack Platform 18.0, specifically the openstack-network-exporter component that exposes metrics on port 1981.

The CVSS score of 5.3 indicates a moderate severity. EPSS is not available, and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV. The attack is inferred to be remote and unauthenticated, relying on the slowloris technique. If exploited, the attacker can reliably halt metric scraping, affecting monitoring and alerting for infrastructure relying on Prometheus.