Skip to content
OpenAdvisories
High · 7.5 CVE-2025-46728 EUVD-2025-13496

cpp-httplib has Unbounded Memory Allocation in Chunked/No-Length Requests

Published May 6, 2025 · Updated May 6, 2025 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

cpp-httplib is a C++ header-only HTTP/HTTPS server and client library. Prior to version 0.20.1, the library fails to enforce configured size limits on incoming request bodies when `Transfer-Encoding: chunked` is used or when no `Content-Length` header is provided. A remote attacker can send a chunked request without the terminating zero-length chunk, causing uncontrolled memory allocation on the server. This leads to potential exhaustion of system memory and results in a server crash or unresponsiveness. Version 0.20.1 fixes the issue by enforcing limits during parsing. If the limit is exceeded at any point during reading, the connection is terminated immediately. A short-term workaround through a Reverse Proxy is available. If updating the library immediately is not feasible, deploy a reverse proxy (e.g., Nginx, HAProxy) in front of the `cpp-httplib` application. Configure the proxy to enforce maximum request body size limits, thereby stopping excessively large requests before they reach the vulnerable library code.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
yhirose cpp-httplib < 0.20.1 —

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 cpp-httplib 0.25.0+ds-3 —
Debian 13 cpp-httplib 0.18.7-1+deb13u1 —
Debian 12 cpp-httplib No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 25.10 cpp-httplib No fix yet —
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro 26.04 LTS cpp-httplib No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS cpp-httplib No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS cpp-httplib No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed cpp-httplib 0.20.1-1.1 openSUSE-SU-2025:15084-1

Advisories 1

References