GHSA-4625-4J76-FWW9
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-04-30 18:34 – Updated: 2026-05-13 16:27Summary
The OTLP disk retry feature in OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol silently fell back to Path.GetTempPath() when OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_RETRY=disk was set but OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_DISK_RETRY_DIRECTORY_PATH was not configured.
The exporter stored and loaded *.blob files under fixed, signal-named subdirectories (traces, metrics, logs) beneath that shared temporary root path.
On multi-user systems where the temporary directory is accessible to other local accounts, this exposed three attack surfaces:
- Blob injection (integrity): an attacker could write crafted
*.blobfiles into the predictable path; the exporter picks them up on the next retry cycle and forwards them to the configured OTLP endpoint under the application's identity. - Telemetry disclosure (confidentiality): an attacker reads
*.blobfiles written by the application between export failures, recovering encoded telemetry payloads (spans, metric data points, log records). - Resource exhaustion (availability): an attacker deposits numerous or oversized blob files, degrading retry-loop performance or consuming disk space.
Details
Preconditions
OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_RETRYis set todisk.OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_DISK_RETRY_DIRECTORY_PATHis not set, causing the exporter to resolve the blob storage root using theSystem.IO.Path.GetTempPath()API.- A local attacker has read or write access to the process' temporary directory (e.g.,
/tmpon Linux, or%TEMP%on a multi-user Windows installation).
Exploit path
- A target application starts with
OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_RETRY=diskand no explicit blob directory. The exporter resolves the storage root toPath.GetTempPath(), producing paths such as%TEMP%\traces,%TEMP%\metrics, and%TEMP%\logs(or/tmp/tracesetc. on Linux). - Injection scenario: before or during the application's retry window, an attacker writes crafted
*.blobfiles into one of those signal subdirectories. On the next retry interval (by default every 60 seconds),OtlpExporterPersistentStorageTransmissionHandlerscans the directory, loads the attacker-supplied blobs, and forwards them to the configured OTLP endpoint using the application's identity and transport credentials. - Disclosure scenario: the attacker reads
*.blobfiles that the application wrote after a transient export failure, recovering the full serialized telemetry payloads (spans, metric data points, or log records in Protobuf encoding). - DoS scenario: the attacker deposits a large number of oversized blob files in the temporary subdirectories, causing the retry loop to consume excess CPU/IO processing them, potentially exhausting available disk space.
Mitigations
If an immediate upgrade to a patched version is not possible:
- Avoid enabling disk retry in shared environments.
- Configure a dedicated directory with strict ACL/ownership and least privilege.
- Ensure the directory is not shared across tenants/users.
- Monitor for unexpected
*.blobfiles or abnormal retry backlog growth.
Resources
{
"affected": [
{
"database_specific": {
"last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 1.15.2"
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "NuGet",
"name": "OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "1.8.0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.15.3"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-42191"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-379"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-04-30T18:34:30Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2026-05-12T20:16:41Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "### Summary\n\nThe OTLP disk retry feature in `OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol` silently fell back to `Path.GetTempPath()` when `OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_RETRY=disk` was set but `OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_DISK_RETRY_DIRECTORY_PATH` was not configured.\n\nThe exporter stored and loaded `*.blob` files under fixed, signal-named subdirectories (`traces`, `metrics`, `logs`) beneath that shared temporary root path.\n\nOn multi-user systems where the temporary directory is accessible to other local accounts, this exposed three attack surfaces:\n\n- **Blob injection (integrity):** an attacker could write crafted `*.blob` files into the predictable path; the exporter picks them up on the next retry cycle and forwards them to the configured OTLP endpoint under the application\u0027s identity.\n- **Telemetry disclosure (confidentiality):** an attacker reads `*.blob` files written by the application between export failures, recovering encoded telemetry payloads (spans, metric data points, log records).\n- **Resource exhaustion (availability):** an attacker deposits numerous or oversized blob files, degrading retry-loop performance or consuming disk space.\n\n### Details\n\n#### Preconditions\n\n1. `OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_RETRY` is set to `disk`.\n2. `OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_DISK_RETRY_DIRECTORY_PATH` is not set, causing the exporter to resolve the blob storage root using the `System.IO.Path.GetTempPath()` API.\n3. A local attacker has read or write access to the process\u0027 temporary directory (e.g., `/tmp` on Linux, or `%TEMP%` on a multi-user Windows installation).\n\n#### Exploit path\n\n1. A target application starts with `OTEL_DOTNET_EXPERIMENTAL_OTLP_RETRY=disk` and no explicit blob directory. The exporter resolves the storage root to `Path.GetTempPath()`, producing paths such as `%TEMP%\\traces`, `%TEMP%\\metrics`, and `%TEMP%\\logs` (or `/tmp/traces` etc. on Linux).\n2. **Injection scenario:** before or during the application\u0027s retry window, an attacker writes crafted `*.blob` files into one of those signal subdirectories. On the next retry interval (by default every 60 seconds), [`OtlpExporterPersistentStorageTransmissionHandler`](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet/blob/c724f4bd6fd88e9a599af1668bf7af9487155b62/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/Implementation/Transmission/OtlpExporterPersistentStorageTransmissionHandler.cs) scans the directory, loads the attacker-supplied blobs, and forwards them to the configured OTLP endpoint using the application\u0027s identity and transport credentials.\n3. **Disclosure scenario:** the attacker reads `*.blob` files that the application wrote after a transient export failure, recovering the full serialized telemetry payloads (spans, metric data points, or log records in Protobuf encoding).\n5. **DoS scenario:** the attacker deposits a large number of oversized blob files in the temporary subdirectories, causing the retry loop to consume excess CPU/IO processing them, potentially exhausting available disk space.\n\n### Mitigations\n\nIf an immediate upgrade to a patched version is not possible:\n\n1. Avoid enabling disk retry in shared environments.\n2. Configure a dedicated directory with strict ACL/ownership and least privilege.\n3. Ensure the directory is not shared across tenants/users.\n4. Monitor for unexpected `*.blob` files or abnormal retry backlog growth.\n\n### Resources\n\n- [#7106](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet/pull/7106)",
"id": "GHSA-4625-4j76-fww9",
"modified": "2026-05-13T16:27:20Z",
"published": "2026-04-30T18:34:30Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet/security/advisories/GHSA-4625-4j76-fww9"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42191"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet/pull/7106"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet/commit/78dffdc5ebdf3dc090fdb94e3f1a32d3d1e26dfd"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "OpenTelemetry\u0027s disk retry default temp path enables local blob injection via OTLP Exporter"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
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- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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