CVE-2026-78250: bytebot-ai bytebot DOS Vulnerability

CVE-2026-78250 Overview

CVE-2026-78250 is an infinite loop vulnerability [CWE-404] in the Agent Execution Workflow component of bytebot-ai bytebot version 0.0.1. An authenticated remote attacker can trigger uncontrolled resource consumption by manipulating an unspecified function in the agent execution path. The flaw affects a product line that is no longer supported by the maintainer, so no vendor patch is expected. Public exploit details are available through third-party vulnerability trackers.

Critical Impact
Remote attackers with low privileges can force the bytebot agent into an infinite loop, exhausting compute budget and causing denial of service against the affected workflow.

Affected Products

bytebot-ai bytebot 0.0.1 (Agent Execution Workflow component)
Product line no longer supported by the maintainer
No fixed version available

Discovery Timeline

2026-08-24 - CVE-2026-78250 published to NVD
2026-08-27 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-78250

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the Agent Execution Workflow of bytebot-ai bytebot 0.0.1. This workflow orchestrates iterative agent steps, and the affected function does not enforce a hard budget or termination condition on loop iterations. An attacker who can submit inputs to the agent can craft a payload that keeps the loop condition perpetually satisfied.

The result is unbounded iteration, tagged in NVD as CWE-404 (Improper Resource Shutdown or Release). The agent continues to consume CPU, memory, and any downstream API budget until the process is terminated externally. The vendor community publication for this issue is referenced by VulDB CVE-2026-78250 and the GitHub CVE Report.

The EPSS score is 0.542% at the 43.296 percentile as of 2026-08-27.

Root Cause

The Agent Execution Workflow lacks proper loop bounding or budget enforcement. When the termination condition depends on attacker-influenced state, the function fails to release control and cannot converge to an exit state. There is no maximum iteration counter or wall-clock timeout in the vulnerable code path.

Attack Vector

Exploitation is performed over the network against an exposed bytebot agent endpoint. The attacker requires low-level authenticated access to submit input to the agent workflow. No user interaction is required. Once triggered, the agent enters the infinite loop and stops processing legitimate requests.

The vulnerability mechanism is described in prose only. No verified proof-of-concept code is reproduced here. Refer to the GitHub CVE Report for the researcher's technical write-up.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-78250

Indicators of Compromise

Sustained 100% CPU utilization on bytebot agent processes with no forward progress in workflow state
Rapid growth in agent iteration counters, LLM token consumption, or tool-call volume without task completion
Repeated identical or near-identical agent steps logged within a single workflow execution

Detection Strategies

Monitor per-workflow iteration counts and alert when a single agent session exceeds a configured maximum
Track token or API budget consumption per session and flag sessions that exceed baseline by an order of magnitude
Correlate authenticated agent API calls with process-level CPU and memory metrics to identify runaway sessions

Monitoring Recommendations

Instrument the bytebot agent runtime with structured logs that record loop iteration numbers and step outcomes
Forward agent execution logs and host telemetry to a centralized analytics platform for correlation
Set threshold-based alerts on workflow duration and downstream API spend per authenticated principal

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-78250

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict network access to bytebot 0.0.1 agent endpoints to trusted internal networks only
Enforce strict authentication and rate limiting on the agent submission API to reduce abuse surface
Impose external wall-clock and iteration limits on agent processes using container or systemd resource controls
Plan migration off bytebot 0.0.1, since the product is no longer supported by the maintainer

Patch Information

No vendor patch is available. The vulnerability advisory explicitly notes that this issue affects a product line that is no longer supported by the maintainer. Consult VulDB Vulnerability #394599 for the latest status. Users should migrate to a supported agent framework rather than continue running the affected version.

Workarounds

Deploy the bytebot agent inside a container with CPU quotas, memory limits, and a maximum runtime enforced by the orchestrator
Place an application-layer proxy in front of the agent that terminates sessions exceeding a configured request or duration budget
Disable exposure of the Agent Execution Workflow to untrusted users until migration is complete

bash

# Example container resource limits to bound a runaway agent process
docker run --rm \
  --cpus="1.0" \
  --memory="1g" \
  --pids-limit=256 \
  --stop-timeout=30 \
  --name bytebot-agent \
  bytebot-ai/bytebot:0.0.1