ubuntu-cve-2021-21295
Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu
Published
2021-03-09 19:15
Modified
2026-06-08 16:09
Summary
Details

Netty is an open-source, asynchronous event-driven network application framework for rapid development of maintainable high performance protocol servers & clients. In Netty (io.netty:netty-codec-http2) before version 4.1.60.Final there is a vulnerability that enables request smuggling. If a Content-Length header is present in the original HTTP/2 request, the field is not validated by Http2MultiplexHandler as it is propagated up. This is fine as long as the request is not proxied through as HTTP/1.1. If the request comes in as an HTTP/2 stream, gets converted into the HTTP/1.1 domain objects (HttpRequest, HttpContent, etc.) via Http2StreamFrameToHttpObjectCodecand then sent up to the child channel's pipeline and proxied through a remote peer as HTTP/1.1 this may result in request smuggling. In a proxy case, users may assume the content-length is validated somehow, which is not the case. If the request is forwarded to a backend channel that is a HTTP/1.1 connection, the Content-Length now has meaning and needs to be checked. An attacker can smuggle requests inside the body as it gets downgraded from HTTP/2 to HTTP/1.1. For an example attack refer to the linked GitHub Advisory. Users are only affected if all of this is true: HTTP2MultiplexCodec or Http2FrameCodec is used, Http2StreamFrameToHttpObjectCodec is used to convert to HTTP/1.1 objects, and these HTTP/1.1 objects are forwarded to another remote peer. This has been patched in 4.1.60.Final As a workaround, the user can do the validation by themselves by implementing a custom ChannelInboundHandler that is put in the ChannelPipeline behind Http2StreamFrameToHttpObjectCodec.

Severity
5.9 (Medium)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
5.9 (Medium)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
N/A (UNKNOWN)
medium
References
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "libnetty-java",
            "binary_version": "1:3.2.6.Final-2+deb8u2ubuntu0.1~esm1"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS",
        "name": "netty",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/netty@1:3.2.6.Final-2+deb8u2ubuntu0.1~esm1?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-infra-legacy/trusty"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "1:3.2.6.Final-2",
        "1:3.2.6.Final-2+deb8u2build0.14.04.1~esm1",
        "1:3.2.6.Final-2+deb8u2ubuntu0.1~esm1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "Available with Ubuntu Pro: https://ubuntu.com/pro",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "libnetty-java",
            "binary_version": "1:4.0.34-1ubuntu0.1~esm1"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS",
        "name": "netty",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/netty@1:4.0.34-1ubuntu0.1~esm1?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-apps/xenial"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "1:4.0.34-1ubuntu0.1~esm1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "1:3.2.6.Final-2",
        "1:4.0.32-1",
        "1:4.0.33-1",
        "1:4.0.34-1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "Available with Ubuntu Pro: https://ubuntu.com/pro",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "libnetty-java",
            "binary_version": "1:4.1.7-4ubuntu0.1+esm2"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS",
        "name": "netty",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/netty@1:4.1.7-4ubuntu0.1+esm2?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-apps/bionic"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "1:4.1.7-4ubuntu0.1+esm2"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "1:4.1.7-4",
        "1:4.1.7-4ubuntu0.1~esm1",
        "1:4.1.7-4ubuntu0.1",
        "1:4.1.7-4ubuntu0.1+esm1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "Available with Ubuntu Pro: https://ubuntu.com/pro",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "libnetty-java",
            "binary_version": "1:4.1.45-1ubuntu0.1~esm1"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS",
        "name": "netty",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/netty@1:4.1.45-1ubuntu0.1~esm1?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-apps/focal"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "1:4.1.45-1ubuntu0.1~esm1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "1:4.1.33-1",
        "1:4.1.33-2",
        "1:4.1.33-3",
        "1:4.1.45-1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "No subscription required",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "libnetty-java",
            "binary_version": "1:4.1.48-4+deb11u1build0.22.04.1"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:22.04:LTS",
        "name": "netty",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/netty@1:4.1.48-4+deb11u1build0.22.04.1?arch=source\u0026distro=jammy"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "1:4.1.48-4+deb11u1build0.22.04.1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "1:4.1.48-4"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [],
  "details": "Netty is an open-source, asynchronous event-driven network application framework for rapid development of maintainable high performance protocol servers \u0026 clients. In Netty (io.netty:netty-codec-http2) before version 4.1.60.Final there is a vulnerability that enables request smuggling. If a Content-Length header is present in the original HTTP/2 request, the field is not validated by `Http2MultiplexHandler` as it is propagated up. This is fine as long as the request is not proxied through as HTTP/1.1. If the request comes in as an HTTP/2 stream, gets converted into the HTTP/1.1 domain objects (`HttpRequest`, `HttpContent`, etc.) via `Http2StreamFrameToHttpObjectCodec `and then sent up to the child channel\u0027s pipeline and proxied through a remote peer as HTTP/1.1 this may result in request smuggling. In a proxy case, users may assume the content-length is validated somehow, which is not the case. If the request is forwarded to a backend channel that is a HTTP/1.1 connection, the Content-Length now has meaning and needs to be checked. An attacker can smuggle requests inside the body as it gets downgraded from HTTP/2 to HTTP/1.1. For an example attack refer to the linked GitHub Advisory. Users are only affected if all of this is true: `HTTP2MultiplexCodec` or `Http2FrameCodec` is used, `Http2StreamFrameToHttpObjectCodec` is used to convert to HTTP/1.1 objects, and these HTTP/1.1 objects are forwarded to another remote peer. This has been patched in 4.1.60.Final As a workaround, the user can do the validation by themselves by implementing a custom `ChannelInboundHandler` that is put in the `ChannelPipeline` behind `Http2StreamFrameToHttpObjectCodec`.",
  "id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2021-21295",
  "modified": "2026-06-08T16:09:12Z",
  "published": "2021-03-09T19:15:00Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-21295"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-wm47-8v5p-wjpj"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/89c241e3b1795ff257af4ad6eadc616cb2fb3dc4"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/Netflix/zuul/pull/980"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-6049-1"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-21295"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "USN-6049-1"
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "medium",
      "type": "Ubuntu"
    }
  ],
  "upstream": [
    "CVE-2021-21295"
  ]
}



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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
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