CVE-2026-44223: vLLM: extract_hidden_states speculative decoding crashes server on any request with penalty parameters
(updated )
The extract_hidden_states speculative decoding proposer in vLLM returns a tensor with an incorrect shape after the first decode step, causing a RuntimeError that crashes the EngineCore process. The crash is triggered when any request in the batch uses sampling penalty parameters (repetition_penalty, frequency_penalty, or presence_penalty).
A single request with a penalty parameter (e.g., "repetition_penalty": 1.1) is sufficient to crash the server. The crash is deterministic and immediate — no concurrency, race condition, or special workload is required.
References
Code Behaviors & Features
Detect and mitigate CVE-2026-44223 with GitLab Dependency Scanning
Secure your software supply chain by verifying that all open source dependencies used in your projects contain no disclosed vulnerabilities. Dependency Scanning using SBOM also detects vulnerabilities from proprietary advisories that this site does not include. Learn more about Dependency Scanning using SBOM →