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CVE-2021-29430

Denial of service attack via memory exhaustion

7.5 HighFix available

Sydent is a reference Matrix identity server. Sydent does not limit the size of requests it receives from HTTP clients. A malicious user could send an HTTP request with a very large body, leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. Sydent also does not limit response size for requests it makes to remote Matrix homeservers. A malicious homeserver could return a very large response, again leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. This affects any server which accepts registration requests from untrusted clients. This issue has been patched by releases 89071a1, 0523511, f56eee3. As a workaround request sizes can be limited in an HTTP reverse-proxy. There are no known workarounds for the problem with overlarge responses.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

1.83%Unchanged since Apr 16, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 7.5

Denial of service attack via memory exhaustion

Sydent is a reference Matrix identity server. Sydent does not limit the size of requests it receives from HTTP clients. A malicious user could send an HTTP request with a very large body, leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. Sydent also does not limit response size for requests it makes to remote Matrix homeservers. A malicious homeserver could return a very large response, again leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. This affects any server which accepts registration requests from untrusted clients. This issue has been patched by releases 89071a1, 0523511, f56eee3. As a workaround request sizes can be limited in an HTTP reverse-proxy. There are no known workarounds for the problem with overlarge responses.

Record
CVE-2021-29430
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-0119 7.5

Sydent is a reference Matrix identity server. Sydent does not limit the size of requests it receives from HTTP clients. A malicious user could send an HTTP request with a very large body, leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. Sydent also does not limit response size for requests it makes to remote Matrix homeservers. A malicious homeserver could return a very large response, again leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. This affects any server which accepts registration requests from untrusted clients. This issue has been patched by releases 89071a1, 0523511, f56eee3. As a workaround request sizes can be limited in an HTTP reverse-proxy. There are no known workarounds for the problem with overlarge responses.

Record
EUVD-2021-0119
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-wmg4-8cp2-hpg9 8.7

Sydent vulnerable to denial of service attack via memory exhaustion

Impact

Sydent does not limit the size of requests it receives from HTTP clients. A malicious user could send an HTTP request with a very large body, leading to disk space exhaustion and denial of service.

Sydent also does not limit response size for requests it makes to remote Matrix homeservers. A malicious homeserver could return a very large response, again leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service.

This affects any server which accepts registration requests from untrusted clients.

Patches

Patched by 89071a1, 0523511, f56eee3.

Workarounds

Request sizes can be limited in an HTTP reverse-proxy.

There are no known workarounds for the problem with overlarge responses.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, email us at [email protected].

Record
GHSA-wmg4-8cp2-hpg9
CVSS 4.0
8.7 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-400, CWE-770
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 7.5

Sydent is a reference Matrix identity server. Sydent does not limit the size of requests it receives from HTTP clients. A malicious user could send an HTTP request with a very large body, leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. Sydent also does not limit response size for requests it makes to remote Matrix homeservers. A malicious homeserver could return a very large response, again leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. This affects any server which accepts registration requests from untrusted clients. This issue has been patched by releases 89071a1, 0523511, f56eee3. As a workaround request sizes can be limited in an HTTP reverse-proxy. There are no known workarounds for the problem with overlarge responses.

Record
CVE-2021-29430
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.0
5.0 MediumAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-400, CWE-770
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.5

Sydent is a reference Matrix identity server. Sydent does not limit the size of requests it receives from HTTP clients. A malicious user could send an HTTP request with a very large body, leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. Sydent also does not limit response size for requests it makes to remote Matrix homeservers. A malicious homeserver could return a very large response, again leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. This affects any server which accepts registration requests from untrusted clients. This issue has been patched by releases 89071a1, 0523511, f56eee3. As a workaround request sizes can be limited in an HTTP reverse-proxy. There are no known workarounds for the problem with overlarge responses.

Record
CVE-2021-29430
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-wmg4-8cp2-hpg9 8.7

Sydent vulnerable to denial of service attack via memory exhaustion

Impact

Sydent does not limit the size of requests it receives from HTTP clients. A malicious user could send an HTTP request with a very large body, leading to disk space exhaustion and denial of service.

Sydent also does not limit response size for requests it makes to remote Matrix homeservers. A malicious homeserver could return a very large response, again leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service.

This affects any server which accepts registration requests from untrusted clients.

Patches

Patched by 89071a1, 0523511, f56eee3.

Workarounds

Request sizes can be limited in an HTTP reverse-proxy.

There are no known workarounds for the problem with overlarge responses.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, email us at [email protected].

Record
GHSA-wmg4-8cp2-hpg9
CVSS 4.0
8.7 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-400, CWE-770
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2021-21 No score

Sydent is a reference Matrix identity server. Sydent does not limit the size of requests it receives from HTTP clients. A malicious user could send an HTTP request with a very large body, leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. Sydent also does not limit response size for requests it makes to remote Matrix homeservers. A malicious homeserver could return a very large response, again leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. This affects any server which accepts registration requests from untrusted clients. This issue has been patched by releases 89071a1, 0523511, f56eee3. As a workaround request sizes can be limited in an HTTP reverse-proxy. There are no known workarounds for the problem with overlarge responses.

Record
PYSEC-2021-21
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
matrix-sydent
PyPI
before 2.3.0
2.3.0
matrix-sydent
PyPI
before 2.3.0, plus listed versions
2.0.02.0.12.1.02.2.0
2.3.0

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2021-29430 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Matrix Sydent, published April 15, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.83%, the 79th percentile. Fixed in matrix-sydent 2.3.0.

References

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