Description
Netty's HTTP/3 codec (io.netty:netty-codec-http3) versions 4.2.0.Final through 4.2.17.Final contain a denial-of-service vulnerability in the QPACK prefixed-integer decoder (QpackUtil.decodePrefixedInteger), which does not bound the number of continuation bytes it will process. A remote, unauthenticated peer can open a QPACK unidirectional stream (type 0x02 encoder or 0x03 decoder) and send a first byte with all prefix bits set (e.g. 0xFF for a 7-bit prefix or 0x3F for a 5-bit prefix) followed by an endless run of 0x80 continuation bytes. The decoder returns -1 ('need more bytes'), so callers never consume the input, the ByteToMessageDecoder cumulator grows without bound, and each decode() invocation re-scans the whole accumulated buffer, yielding O(N^2) CPU cost. The result is unbounded per-connection heap growth (OutOfMemoryError) and event-loop CPU starvation, reachable in every configuration. Fixed in 4.2.18.Final.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| netty | netty | 4.2.0.Final – < 4.2.18.Final | 4.2.18.Final |
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.
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | netty | No fix yet | — |
Show 7 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 26.04 LTS | netty | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS | netty | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | netty | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | netty | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | netty | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | netty | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | netty | No fix yet | — |
Advisories 1
- WID-SEC-2026-3291 Netty: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 8, 2026
References
- GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-v5p2-hmgx-3xrx) vendor-advisory
- VulnCheck Advisory: Netty HTTP/3 QPACK Prefixed Integer DoS via Unbounded Accumulation third-party-advisory