CVE-2026-21696: pterodactyl wings Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-21696 is a high (CVSS 8.3) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in pterodactyl wings. EPSS estimates a 0.55% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 45.3% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.

Timeline

1. 19-01-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 20-01-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Wings is the server control plane for Pterodactyl, a free, open-source game server management panel. Starting in version 1.7.0 and prior to version 1.12.0, Wings does not consider SQLite max parameter limit when processing activity log entries allowing for low privileged user to trigger a condition that floods the panel with activity records. After Wings sends activity logs to the panel it deletes the processed activity entries from the wings SQLite database. However, it does not consider the max parameter limit of SQLite, 32766 as of SQLite 3.32.0. If wings attempts to delete more than 32766 entries from the SQLite database in one query, it triggers an error (SQL logic error: too many SQL variables (1)) and does not remove any entries from the database. These entries are then indefinitely re-processed and resent to the panel each time the cron runs. By successfully exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker can trigger a situation where wings will keep uploading the same activity data to the panel repeatedly (growing each time to include new activity) until the panels' database server runs out of disk space. Version 1.12.0 fixes the issue.

• CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource ConsumptionThe product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
• CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or ThrottlingThe product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.