GHSA-MVH2-CRG5-V77C
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-07-22 21:23 – Updated: 2026-07-22 21:23Summary
Netty SPDY header decoding continues inflating zlib-compressed header blocks after the raw header parser has already exceeded maxHeaderSize and marked the frame truncated. At commit b2d2137c4404af425bf9d5d601a62576f5c06925, a 12,253-byte compressed SPDY header block can declare and inflate a 12 MiB header-name field with maxHeaderSize=16, forcing compression-amplified decode and skip work in a reachable SpdyFrameCodec pipeline.
PoC
run with:
bash ./poc/run.sh
expected output:
NETTY_SPDY_ZLIB_DECODED_AFTER_LIMIT_TRIGGERED compressed_bytes=12253 declared_name_length=12582912 max_header_size=16 truncated=true invalid=false
The fingerprint means the compressed input was fully consumed while the raw header parser ended with truncated=true and invalid=false after processing the oversized decoded name. That specific state distinguishes this bug from a generic setup failure: the maxHeaderSize guard fired, but the zlib/raw decode path still inflated and skipped the full 12 MiB declared name.
Impact
A remote unauthenticated peer that can speak SPDY to a Netty pipeline containing SpdyFrameCodec can send a small compressed HEADERS block that expands into much larger raw header data after the configured maxHeaderSize limit has already been exceeded. The attack requires a reachable SPDY codec, ordinary transport setup such as TCP and optional TLS, and no independent compressed-frame-size or connection-rate limit ahead of SpdyFrameCodec. The satisfied protocol guards are straightforward: the HEADERS frame uses a nonzero stream id and length >= 4, the decoder factory selects the zlib decoder, the payload uses the SPDY dictionary, and the raw block appends a zero-length value so the already-truncated frame reaches END_HEADER_BLOCK. The user-visible effect is denial of service through compression-amplified CPU and allocation churn.
{
"affected": [
{
"database_specific": {
"last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 4.2.15.Final"
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Maven",
"name": "io.netty:netty-codec-http"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "4.2.0.Final"
},
{
"fixed": "4.2.16.Final"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
},
{
"database_specific": {
"last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 4.1.135.Final"
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Maven",
"name": "io.netty:netty-codec-http"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "4.1.0.Final"
},
{
"fixed": "4.1.136.Final"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-55833"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-400"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-07-22T21:23:05Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2026-07-21T00:17:35Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "### Summary\nNetty SPDY header decoding continues inflating zlib-compressed header blocks after the raw header parser has already exceeded maxHeaderSize and marked the frame truncated. At commit b2d2137c4404af425bf9d5d601a62576f5c06925, a 12,253-byte compressed SPDY header block can declare and inflate a 12 MiB header-name field with maxHeaderSize=16, forcing compression-amplified decode and skip work in a reachable SpdyFrameCodec pipeline.\n\n### PoC\n[poc.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/28445780/poc.zip)\n\nrun with:\n```bash\nbash ./poc/run.sh\n```\nexpected output:\n```text\nNETTY_SPDY_ZLIB_DECODED_AFTER_LIMIT_TRIGGERED compressed_bytes=12253 declared_name_length=12582912 max_header_size=16 truncated=true invalid=false\n```\n\nThe fingerprint means the compressed input was fully consumed while the raw header parser ended with `truncated=true` and `invalid=false` after processing the oversized decoded name. That specific state distinguishes this bug from a generic setup failure: the maxHeaderSize guard fired, but the zlib/raw decode path still inflated and skipped the full 12 MiB declared name.\n\n### Impact\nA remote unauthenticated peer that can speak SPDY to a Netty pipeline containing SpdyFrameCodec can send a small compressed HEADERS block that expands into much larger raw header data after the configured maxHeaderSize limit has already been exceeded. The attack requires a reachable SPDY codec, ordinary transport setup such as TCP and optional TLS, and no independent compressed-frame-size or connection-rate limit ahead of SpdyFrameCodec. The satisfied protocol guards are straightforward: the HEADERS frame uses a nonzero stream id and length \u003e= 4, the decoder factory selects the zlib decoder, the payload uses the SPDY dictionary, and the raw block appends a zero-length value so the already-truncated frame reaches END_HEADER_BLOCK. The user-visible effect is denial of service through compression-amplified CPU and allocation churn.",
"id": "GHSA-mvh2-crg5-v77c",
"modified": "2026-07-22T21:23:05Z",
"published": "2026-07-22T21:23:05Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-mvh2-crg5-v77c"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55833"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/5b68c61f37aa4a3045cba624cbea239655c9003b"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/bb2ff68a1fb71cb4b0eb9a9e17b66c52aff680c6"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.136.Final"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.16.Final"
}
],
"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:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "Netty SPDY zlib header block continues decoded expansion after maxHeaderSize truncation"
}
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.