Netty is a network application framework for development of protocol servers and clients. Prior to 4.1.136.Final and 4.2.16.Final, Netty SPDY header decoding continues inflating zlib-compressed header blocks after the raw header parser has exceeded maxHeaderSize and marked the frame truncated in SpdyFrameCodec, allowing a remote peer to send a small compressed HEADERS block that expands into much larger raw header data and causes compression-amplified CPU and allocation churn. This issue is fixed in versions 4.1.136.Final and 4.2.16.Final.
Weakness
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netty | Netty | 4.1.0 (including) | 4.1.136 (excluding) |
| Netty | Netty | 4.2.0 (including) | 4.2.16 (excluding) |
| Red Hat build of Quarkus 3.27.4.SP3 | RedHat | netty-codec-http | * |
| Red Hat build of Quarkus 3.33.2.SP3 | RedHat | netty-codec-http | * |
Potential Mitigations
Mitigation of resource exhaustion attacks requires that the target system either:
The first of these solutions is an issue in itself though, since it may allow attackers to prevent the use of the system by a particular valid user. If the attacker impersonates the valid user, they may be able to prevent the user from accessing the server in question.
The second solution is simply difficult to effectively institute – and even when properly done, it does not provide a full solution. It simply makes the attack require more resources on the part of the attacker.
Related Attack Patterns
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/147.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/227.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/492.html
References
- https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/5b68c61f37aa4a3045cba624cbea239655c9003b
- https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/bb2ff68a1fb71cb4b0eb9a9e17b66c52aff680c6
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.136.Final
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.16.Final
- https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-mvh2-crg5-v77c