CVE-2021-29430
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.
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
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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
matrix-sydentPyPI |
before 2.3.0 | 2.3.0 |
matrix-sydentPyPI |
before 2.3.0, plus listed versions 2.0.02.0.12.1.02.2.0 |
2.3.0 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE 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
pypi.org/project/matrix-sydent
github.com/matrix-org/sydent/security/advisories/GHSA-wmg4-8cp2-hpg9
github.com/matrix-org/sydent/commit/89071a1a754c69a50deac89e6bb74002d4cda19d
github.com/matrix-org/sydent/commit/0523511d2fb40f2738f8a8549868f44b96e5dab7
github.com/matrix-org/sydent/commit/f56eee315b6c44fdd9f6aa785cc2ec744a594428
github.com/matrix-org/sydent/releases/tag/v2.3.0