---
id: CVE-2026-115774
aliases:
  - GHSA-2qrf-pqgx-qh9v
title: >-
  Twisted: Denial of Service in the Twisted IMAP4 Server via a Negative Literal
  Size in SEARCH
summary: >-
  Twisted: Denial of Service in the Twisted IMAP4 Server via a Negative Literal
  Size in SEARCH
severity: medium
cvss: 4.9
cwe:
  - CWE-400
  - CWE-835
vendor: Twisted
product: Twisted
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - Twisted <= 26.4.0
patched:
  - Twisted 26.10.0rc1
published: '2026-10-23'
updated: '2026-10-23'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-23T20:46:13Z'
source: GHSA
sourceUrl: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2qrf-pqgx-qh9v'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/twisted/twisted/security/advisories/GHSA-2qrf-pqgx-qh9v'
  - url: 'https://github.com/twisted/twisted/pull/12764'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/twisted/twisted/commit/3d125548bcbe955007cb97f480bb699a5e074741
  - url: 'https://github.com/twisted/twisted/releases/tag/twisted-26.10.0rc1'
  - url: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2qrf-pqgx-qh9v'
tags:
  - ghsa
  - pip
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-10-23T20:36:51.531Z'
---

## Overview

## Summary

An infinite-loop vulnerability (CWE-835) in the Twisted IMAP4 server lets an authenticated client freeze the whole process with one small command. `twisted.mail.imap4.parseNestedParens` reads an IMAP literal size with `int()` and never rejects a negative value. A negative size such as `{-100}` drives the parser cursor negative, and because a negative Python index wraps around the end of the string instead of raising, the scanning loop never terminates. It runs synchronously on the single-threaded reactor, so one `SEARCH` command holds the reactor at full CPU forever and every other connection stops being served.

## Details

Meeting an inline literal, `parseNestedParens` reads the size between the braces and advances the cursor past the body:

```python
# twisted/mail/imap4.py  parseNestedParens
literalSize = int(s[i + 1 : end])          # no sign check
contentStack[-1].append((s[end + 3 : end + 3 + literalSize],))
i = end + 3 + literalSize                    # negative size -> i goes negative
```

`int(b"-100")` is `-100`, so `i` goes negative; the loop condition `i < len(s)` stays true and `s[i : i + 1]` on a negative index never raises, so the cursor cycles forever. The `_literalStringLimit` guard only covers the synchronizing-literal continuation path, not this inline branch. The call is reached from `select_SEARCH` through `arg_searchkeys`, dispatched only in the selected state, so a valid login and a selected mailbox (any low-privilege account) suffice. It runs in the reactor thread, and the connection timeout cannot fire because the reactor itself is frozen.

Affected product: Twisted (`twisted.mail`), the IMAP4 server `twisted.mail.imap4.IMAP4Server`
Affected versions: 26.4.0 and earlier

## PoC

Log in, select a mailbox, and send a `SEARCH` whose literal size is negative:

```text
C: t1 LOGIN testuser password-test
C: t2 SELECT INBOX
C: t3 SEARCH {-100}zzzzzzzzzz
```

The server never responds and one core stays at 100 percent. In a measured run a health service co-hosted on the same reactor stopped answering the instant the command arrived, showing the freeze hits the whole process and not just the attacking connection. A valid `{5}zzzzz` completes normally and a non-numeric `{abc}` is rejected with a parse error, which isolates the cause to the missing negative-size check.

## Impact

A remote denial of service. One command of about ten bytes freezes the single-threaded reactor, so it stops serving not only every other IMAP connection but every other service co-hosted in the same process (for example SMTP and POP3 under `twistd mail`), and no timeout can recover it until the process is restarted. It requires an authenticated session, so any account holder can trigger it; there is no confidentiality or integrity impact and no code execution.

## Affected packages

- `Twisted <= 26.4.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `Twisted 26.10.0rc1`