Description
etcd is a distributed key-value store for the data of a distributed system. Prior to versions 3.5.33, 3.6.14, and 3.7.1, a network attacker who can reach an etcd TLS listener can open many TCP connections and never send a ClientHello. In client/pkg/transport/listener_tls.go, each connection handled by tlsListener.acceptLoop spawns a goroutine that blocks indefinitely inside tls.Conn.Handshake() and remains tracked in the pending map. Unbounded goroutine and map growth can exhaust memory in the etcd process, causing loss of availability for the cluster and, when etcd backs Kubernetes, the control plane. This issue is fixed in versions 3.5.33, 3.6.14, and 3.7.1.
References9
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd/commit/2e07efce9745004eb4773cffaada9b5c…
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd/commit/89ff6d50796049d4f1136915ba21504b…
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd/commit/8e4dd0679a2c6b095d2a32a749fda252…
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd/commit/f73cba7d920019f91a1ea1f6697833e4…
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd/pull/22130
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd/releases/tag/v3.5.33
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd/releases/tag/v3.6.14
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd/releases/tag/v3.7.1
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd/security/advisories/GHSA-6vch-q96h-7gc3
Metrics
- CVSS 4.0
-
8.7
HIGH
Score source: CNA
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/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - EPSS — exploit probability
- 0% percentile: 34 · as of 12 November 2026
- CWE
- CWE-770
Could this be exploited in your environment?
A patch closes the known hole. A penetration test shows what an attacker can still reach — with proof.