What it is
In-memory stores such as Redis and Memcached.
Why it is risky
These are usually unauthenticated by default — exposure lets attackers read/write sessions & keys (even RCE) or wipe data.
What to do
Bind to 127.0.0.1 / private network, set requirepass·ACLs, and allow only internal hosts through the firewall.
Is it listening on your server?
Linux
ss -ltnp 'sport = :11211'Known vulnerabilities in Memcached
| CVE | Title | CVSS | Exploited | EPSS | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2016-8704 | An integer overflow in the process_bin_append_prepend function in Memcached, which is responsible for processi... | 9.8 | — | 2017-01-07 | |
| CVE-2016-8705 | Multiple integer overflows in process_bin_update function in Memcached, which is responsible for processing mu... | 9.8 | — | 2017-01-07 | |
| CVE-2023-46853 | In Memcached before 1.6.22, an off-by-one error exists when processing proxy requests in proxy mode, if \n is... | 9.8 | — | 2023-10-27 | |
| CVE-2016-8706 | An integer overflow in process_bin_sasl_auth function in Memcached, which is responsible for authentication co... | 8.1 | — | 2017-01-07 | |
| CVE-2026-47783 | In memcached before 1.6.42, username data for SASL password database authentication has a timing side channel... | 8.1 | — | 2026-05-20 | |
| CVE-2026-47784 | In memcached before 1.6.42, password data for SASL password database authentication has a timing side channel... | 8.1 | — | 2026-05-20 | |
| CVE-2017-9951 | The try_read_command function in memcached.c in memcached before 1.4.39 allows remote attackers to cause a den... | 7.5 | — | 2017-07-17 | |
| CVE-2018-1000115 | Memcached version 1.5.5 contains an Insufficient Control of Network Message Volume (Network Amplification, CWE... | 7.5 | — | 2018-03-05 | |
| CVE-2018-1000127 | memcached version prior to 1.4.37 contains an Integer Overflow vulnerability in items.c:item_free() that can r... | 7.5 | — | 2018-03-14 | |
| CVE-2019-11596 | In memcached before 1.5.14, a NULL pointer dereference was found in the "lru mode" and "lru temp_ttl" commands... | 7.5 | — | 2019-04-29 | |
| CVE-2019-15026 | memcached 1.5.16, when UNIX sockets are used, has a stack-based buffer over-read in conn_to_str in memcached.c... | 7.5 | — | 2019-08-30 | |
| CVE-2020-10931 | Memcached 1.6.x before 1.6.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via a crafted... | 7.5 | — | 2020-03-24 |
Track these versions on your own servers
InfraGuard collects installed software versions from every server and flags the ones with known vulnerabilities. Self-hosted — nothing leaves your network.