What is GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643?

GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 is a high-severity allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability in OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation (nuget), affecting versions >= 1.10.0-beta.1, < 1.11.0. It is fixed in 1.11.0. The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap.

How severe is GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643?

GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.

Which versions of OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation are affected by GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643?

OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation (nuget) versions >= 1.10.0-beta.1, < 1.11.0 is affected.

Is there a fix for GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643?

Yes. GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 is fixed in 1.11.0. Upgrade to this version or later.

Is GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 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.

What actually determines whether GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 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 GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643?

Upgrade OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation to 1.11.0 or later.

GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643

Q: How severe is GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643?

GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.

Q: Which versions of OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation are affected by GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643?

OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation (nuget) versions >= 1.10.0-beta.1, < 1.11.0 is affected.

Q: Is there a fix for GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643?

Yes. GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 is fixed in 1.11.0. Upgrade to this version or later.

Q: Is GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 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.

Q: What actually determines whether GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 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.

Q: How do I fix GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643?

Upgrade OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation to 1.11.0 or later.

Summary

DoS Vulnerability in TraceContextPropagator.Extract - OpenTelemetry.Api

Fixed version

OpenTelemetry .NET Automatic Instrumentation	Status
<= 1.9.0	✅ Not affected
1.10.0-beta.1, 1.10.0	❌ Vulnerable
1.11.0 (Fixed)	✅ Safe to use

Workarounds

Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?

References

Are there any links users can visit to find out more?

Impact

What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?

A vulnerability in OpenTelemetry.Api package 1.10.0 to 1.11.1 could cause a Denial of Service (DoS) when a tracestate and traceparent header is received. These versions are used in OpenTelemetry .NET Automatic Instrumentation 1.10.0-beta.1 and 1.10.0.

Even if an application does not explicitly use trace context propagation, receiving these headers can still trigger high CPU usage.
This issue impacts any application accessible over the web or backend services that process HTTP requests containing a tracestate header.
Application may experience excessive resource consumption, leading to increased latency, degraded performance, or downtime.

The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap. Typical impact: resource exhaustion leading to denial of service.

GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.11.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Affected versions

OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation (>= 1.10.0-beta.1, < 1.11.0)

Security releases

OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation → 1.11.0 (nuget)

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.

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Remediation advice

Has the problem been patched? What versions should users upgrade to?

This issue has been resolved in OpenTelemetry.Api 1.11.2 by reverting the change that introduced the problematic behavior in versions 1.10.0 to 1.11.1. OpenTelemetry .NET Automatic Instrumentation fixes it in 1.11.0 release.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643? GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 is a high-severity allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability in OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation (nuget), affecting versions >= 1.10.0-beta.1, < 1.11.0. It is fixed in 1.11.0. The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap.
How severe is GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643? GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
Which versions of OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation are affected by GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643? OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation (nuget) versions >= 1.10.0-beta.1, < 1.11.0 is affected.
Is there a fix for GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643? Yes. GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 is fixed in 1.11.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
Is GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 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 GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643 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 GHSA-VC29-VG52-6643? Upgrade OpenTelemetry.AutoInstrumentation to 1.11.0 or later.