MediumGHSA-3x4c-7xq6-9pq8CVE-2026-27980

Next.js: Unbounded next/image disk cache growth can exhaust storage

Published 17 Mar 2026 · Updated 10 Sept 2026

Affected packages

nextnpm
Affected
>=16.0.0-beta.0 <16.1.7
Fixed in
16.1.7
Update to the fixed version for your release line, for example:npm install next@16.1.7
nextnpm
Affected
>=10.0.0 <15.5.14
Fixed in
15.5.14
Update to the fixed version for your release line, for example:npm install next@15.5.14

Details

Summary

The default Next.js image optimization disk cache (/_next/image) did not have a configurable upper bound, allowing unbounded cache growth.

Impact

An attacker could generate many unique image-optimization variants and exhaust disk space, causing denial of service. Note that this does not impact platforms that have their own image optimization capabilities, such as Vercel.

Patches

Fixed by adding an LRU-backed disk cache with images.maximumDiskCacheSize, including eviction of least-recently-used entries when the limit is exceeded. Setting maximumDiskCacheSize: 0 disables disk caching.

Workarounds

If upgrade is not immediately possible:

  • Periodically clean .next/cache/images.
  • Reduce variant cardinality (e.g., tighten values for images.localPatterns, images.remotePatterns, and images.qualities)

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References

Advisory data from OSV.dev (opens OSV.dev in a new tab), refreshed daily.