# CVE-2026-81872: OpenTelemetry-Go: BatchProcessor can busy-spin when export buffer is full

CVE-2026-81872 is fixed in 3 products on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-81872, released September 16, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-81872
- Priority: Routine
- CVSS: n/a (Low)
- EPSS: 0.0038
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Sep 16, 2026
- Weakness: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
- Vendor advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-81872

## Description

OpenTelemetry-Go is the Go implementation of OpenTelemetry. Prior to version 0.21.0, the go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk/log BatchingProcessor can enter a tight CPU loop when attacker-driven log emission fills its asynchronous export buffer while the exporter is backpressured. NewBatchingProcessor wraps the exporter with newBufferExporter(exporter, 1), and the poll loop calls queue.TryDequeue and bufferExporter.EnqueueExport before immediately signaling pollTrigger whenever the queue remains at or above batchSize. Because a failed nonblocking EnqueueExport leaves the queue length unchanged, the processor repeatedly retries without waiting for its ticker, exhausting CPU and degrading or denying service in the embedding process. This issue is fixed in version 0.21.0.

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | distribution opensuse-leap 16.0 | 3.1.1-160000.4.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:22010-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-22010-1.md) | Oct 1, 2026 |
| Linux | distribution sles 16.0 | 3.1.1-160000.4.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23990-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23990-1.md) | Oct 1, 2026 |
| Linux | golang-opentelemetry-otel Debian 14 | 1.46.0-2 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-81872](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-81872.md) | Sep 16, 2026 |
| Linux | helm opensuse-leap 16.0 | 4.3.0-160000.1.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21983-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21983-1.md) | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Linux | helm sles 15.6 | 3.22.1-150000.1.104.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:5119-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-5119-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 |
| Linux | helm sles 15.7 | 3.22.1-150000.1.104.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:5119-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-5119-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 |
| Linux | helm sles 16.0 | 4.3.0-160000.1.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23984-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23984-1.md) | Sep 30, 2026 |

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Data as of 2026-11-09T07:25:28Z UTC. Source: Patchblox Patch Radar (https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar). Patchblox finds out-of-date software on Windows, macOS and Linux and updates it through release rings: https://patchblox.com/demo

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