Medium [CVE-2026-54285] @opentelemetry/core: opentelemetry-js: @opentelemetry/core: Denial of Service via oversized baggage HTTP headers

opentelemetry-js is the OpenTelemetry JavaScript Client. Prior to 2.8.0, W3CBaggagePropagator.extract() in @opentelemetry/core does not enforce size limits when parsing inbound baggage HTTP headers.

The W3C Baggage specification recommends a maximum of 8,192 bytes and 180 entries; these limits were only enforced on the outbound (inject()) path, not on the inbound (extract()) path. Parsing oversized baggage causes memory allocation proportional to the header size without any cap.

This vulnerability is fixed in 2.8.0. This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to trigger uncontrolled memory allocation by sending oversized baggage HTTP headers.

The system's inability to enforce size limits during inbound baggage parsing can lead to resource exhaustion, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS). Red Hat products ship @opentelemetry/core as a transitive dependency in several components, but the vulnerable W3CBaggagePropagator.extract() code path has limited practical impact.

Node.js enforces a default --max-http-header-size of 16,384 bytes, which caps the total size of all HTTP headers before they reach the propagator. The baggage header is already parsed and in memory by the HTTP layer; the additional allocation from the propagator is only the overhead of splitting into entry objects, not an unbounded read.