Steeltoe.Discovery.Consul: malformed 'secure' metadata aborts service instance lookup (DoS) (CVE-2026-81516) | HOL Guard CVE

Unknown severity · Source severity not reportedCVE-2026-81516

Steeltoe.Discovery.Consul: malformed 'secure' metadata aborts service instance lookup (DoS)

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-81516 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in Steeltoe.Discovery.Consul: malformed 'secure' metadata aborts service instance lookup (DoS). The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps SteeltoeOSS/security-advisories (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Analysis pending evidence review

HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.

Published Sep 17, 2026Updated Sep 17, 2026Source checked Sep 17, 2026First seen by HOL Sep 17, 2026Material review Sep 17, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: Unknown severitySource severity not reported
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 1 mapped package or product
Fix availability: Not reported

Why this deserves its current priority

A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

The current feed maps SteeltoeOSS/security-advisories (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Mapped affected packages and fixed versions
Package	Affected range	Fixed version
SteeltoeOSS/security-advisoriesgeneric	>= 4.0.0, < 4.3.0	Not reported

Recommended response

Check inventory. Check lockfiles and deployed manifests for SteeltoeOSS/security-advisories.
Review the reported fix. Monitor this advisory for an available fix and review any installs of the affected package.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Sep 17, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Sep 17, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Sep 17, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source description

Steeltoe is an open source project that provides a collection of libraries that helps users build cloud-native applications. From 4.0.0 until 4.3.0, ConsulDiscoveryClient constructs ConsulServiceInstance objects by parsing each registration's secure metadata with a strict Boolean conversion. A principal that can register a Consul service can supply a secure value other than true or false, causing the exception from one instance to abort construction of the entire instance list and make the targeted service undiscoverable. When GetAllInstancesAsync enumerates all services, one malformed instance can abort enumeration across every service. The outage persists until the offending registration is removed. This issue is fixed in version 4.3.0.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.