GHSA-563Q-J3CM-6JXM
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-06-15 20:46 – Updated: 2026-06-15 20:46Summary
Netty HTTP/2 max header size handling produces attack similar to HTTP/2 Rapid Reset.
Details
There is a setting in the http2 specification called SETTINGS_MAX_HEADER_LIST_SIZE. According to the RFC: “This advisory setting informs a peer of the maximum field section size that the sender is prepared to accept, in units of octets.”
When a client sends that setting to Netty, it appears that Netty will behave as follows:
- Read the request
- Proxy the request to the origin
- Attempt to produce a response
- Create an exception while writing the headers for the response
Functionally, this should be similar to the http2 reset attack, but with a different on-the-wire signature.
Remediation
When speaking with clients, Netty should potentially treat this as “advisory” and ignore it. It would be best to ignore the SETTINGS_MAX_HEADER_LIST_SIZE setting from clients (or ignore it when sending to clients). According to the spec, a server does not need to honor this advisory setting, and it appears that other http/2 implementations ignore it when acting as a server.
Impact
This is a DDoS attack similar to the HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Attack.
Credit
Jonathan Looney (Engineering, Netflix)
Contact
Ashley Tolbert (Security, Netflix) - artolbert@netflix.com
{
"affected": [
{
"database_specific": {
"last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 4.2.14.Final"
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Maven",
"name": "io.netty:netty-codec-http2"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "4.2.0.Final"
},
{
"fixed": "4.2.15.Final"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
},
{
"database_specific": {
"last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 4.1.134.Final"
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Maven",
"name": "io.netty:netty-codec-http2"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.1.135.Final"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-50560"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-770"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-06-15T20:46:56Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2026-06-12T16:16:32Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "### Summary\n\nNetty HTTP/2 max header size handling produces attack similar to HTTP/2 Rapid Reset.\n\n### Details\n\nThere is a setting in the http2 specification called `SETTINGS_MAX_HEADER_LIST_SIZE`. According to[ the RFC](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9113.html#name-defined-settings): \u201cThis advisory setting informs a peer of the maximum field section size that the sender is prepared to accept, in units of octets.\u201d\n\nWhen a client sends that setting to Netty, it appears that Netty will behave as follows:\n\n- Read the request\n- Proxy the request to the origin\n- Attempt to produce a response\n- Create an exception while writing the headers for the response\n\nFunctionally, this should be similar to the http2 reset attack, but with a different on-the-wire signature.\n\n## Remediation\n\nWhen speaking with clients, Netty should potentially treat this as \u201cadvisory\u201d and ignore it. It would be best to ignore the SETTINGS_MAX_HEADER_LIST_SIZE setting from clients (or ignore it when sending to clients). According to the spec, a server does not need to honor this advisory setting, and it appears that other http/2 implementations ignore it when acting as a server.\n\n### Impact\n\nThis is a DDoS attack similar to the HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Attack.\n\n## Credit\nJonathan Looney (Engineering, Netflix)\n\n## Contact\nAshley Tolbert (Security, Netflix) - artolbert@netflix.com",
"id": "GHSA-563q-j3cm-6jxm",
"modified": "2026-06-15T20:46:56Z",
"published": "2026-06-15T20:46:56Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-563q-j3cm-6jxm"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-50560"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.135.Final"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.15.Final"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9113.html#name-defined-settings"
}
],
"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"
},
{
"score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
"type": "CVSS_V4"
}
],
"summary": "Netty susceptible to HTTP/2 Reset Attack with different on-the-wire signature"
}
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.