Proof-of-Concept Exploit Released for Critical NGINX Heap Buffer Overflow (CVE-2026-42945)
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hetsaraiya
17d ago· 2 min readenCode
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Summary
A proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2026-42945, a critical heap buffer overflow vulnerability in NGINX's ngx_http_rewrite_module that has existed since 2008. The bug allows unauthenticated remote code execution against servers using rewrite and set directives. It was discovered alongside three other memory corruption issues (CVE-2026-42946, CVE-2026-40701, CVE-2026-42934) by depthfirst's automated security analysis system. The repository provides the exploit code and promotes depthfirst's commercial security analysis platform.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledRCE Proof of concept for CVE-2026-42945, a critical heap buffer overflow in NGINX's ngx_http_rewrite_module introduced in 2008.
The bug enables unauthenticated remote code execution against servers using rewrite and set directives.
This vulnerability — along with three other memory corruption issues (CVE-2026-42946, CVE-2026-40701, CVE-2026-42934) — was autonomously discovered by depthfirst's security analysis system after a single click of onboarding the NGINX source.
Want to find issues like this in your own code? Try the same system at https://depthfirst.com/open-defense.
exploit for CVE-2026-42945. Contribute to DepthFirstDisclosures/Nginx-Rift development by creating an account on GitHub.
