Summary
The default Next.js image optimization disk cache (/_next/image) did not have a configurable upper bound, allowing unbounded cache growth.
Workarounds
If upgrade is not immediately possible:
- Periodically clean
.next/cache/images. - Reduce variant cardinality (e.g., tighten values for
images.localPatterns,images.remotePatterns, andimages.qualities)
Impact
An attacker could generate many unique image-optimization variants and exhaust disk space, causing denial of service. Note that this does not impact platforms that have their own image optimization capabilities, such as Vercel.
Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service. Typical impact: denial of service.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Remediation advice
Fixed by adding an LRU-backed disk cache with images.maximumDiskCacheSize, including eviction of least-recently-used entries when the limit is exceeded. Setting maximumDiskCacheSize: 0 disables disk caching.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-27980? CVE-2026-27980 is a medium-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in next (npm), affecting versions >= 16.0.0-beta.0, < 16.1.7. It is fixed in 16.1.7, 15.5.14. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.
- Which versions of next are affected by CVE-2026-27980? next (npm) versions >= 16.0.0-beta.0, < 16.1.7 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-27980? Yes. CVE-2026-27980 is fixed in 16.1.7, 15.5.14. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-27980 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-27980 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-27980 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-27980?
- Upgrade
nextto 16.1.7 or later - Upgrade
nextto 15.5.14 or later
- Upgrade