GitHub Advisoryadvisory · Maven

GHSA-x4gw-5cx5-pgmh Netty: SNI handler pre-allocates up to 16 MiB from nine attacker bytes

HIGH Published 2026-06-08 Modified 2026-06-12 Official page ↗
Aliases
CVE-2026-45416
Ecosystem
Maven
Packages
io.netty:netty-handler
Severity
High
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weaknesses
CWE-770
Reviewed
2026-06-08

Affected packages

• Maven io.netty:netty-handler: >= 4.2.0.Final, < 4.2.15.Final → fixed in 4.2.15.Final • Maven io.netty:netty-handler: < 4.1.135.Final → fixed in 4.1.135.Final

Description

SslClientHelloHandler.decode() reads the 24-bit TLS handshake length and, when the ClientHello does not fit in the first record, eagerly allocates `ctx.alloc().buffer(handshakeLength)` (line 161). The guard at line 140 is `handshakeLength > maxClientHelloLength && maxClientHelloLength != 0`, and the commonly-used SniHandler/AbstractSniHandler constructors (SniHandler(Mapping), SniHandler(AsyncMapping), AbstractSniHandler()) pass maxClientHelloLength=0 and handshakeTimeoutMillis=0, so the length guard is disabled and no timeout is scheduled. A 16 MiB request exceeds the default pooled chunk size and becomes a huge/unpooled allocation performed immediately. The buffer is retained in the handler until the channel closes.

Related

Alias · CVE (1)

  • CVE-2026-45416 Netty is a network application framework for development of protocol servers and clients. vulnerability

Weakness · CWE (1)

  • CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling weakness

References