Description
Netty's HTTP/3 codec (io.netty:netty-codec-http3) from 4.2.2.Final through 4.2.17.Final does not special-case HTTP/1 CONNECT authority-form request-targets when converting HTTP/1 messages to HTTP/3 in HttpConversionUtil.toHttp3Headers. The authority-form target (e.g., "CONNECT trusted.example:443") is parsed as a URI, so its host is emitted as :scheme, :path is set to "/", and the HTTP/1 Host header is used as :authority; if no Host header is present the CONNECT target is dropped. In a Netty-based HTTP/1-to-HTTP/3 proxy or gateway, a remote client can send a CONNECT request whose Host header names a different authority than the request-target, producing a malformed HTTP/3 CONNECT whose tunnel :authority is attacker-controlled. This can bypass tunnel allow-lists, egress policy, backend selection, or audit controls that validate the HTTP/1 CONNECT request-target before forwarding over HTTP/3. The issue is fixed in 4.2.18.Final.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| netty | netty | 4.2.2.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-jgph-cgq3-c627) vendor-advisory
- VulnCheck Advisory: Netty HTTP/1 CONNECT authority-form mistranslated to malformed HTTP/3 third-party-advisory