CVE-2026-72712 MEDIUM

CVE-2026-72712: Nmap 7.99 Denial of Service via Zero-Length TCP Option Packet

Vendor Nmap Project
Product Nmap
Weakness CWE-835
Published August 11, 2026
Last update August 11, 2026

CVSS base score

6.9/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction
Confidentiality
Integrity

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Nmap versions up to and including 7.99 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows remote attackers to crash the application by sending a crafted packet containing a zero-length TCP option. The malformed packet forces the Packet:parse_options() function in nselib/packet.lua to allocate objects in an infinite loop, causing an out-of-memory condition that results in application crash.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

August 11, 2026 CVE published