Netty HTTP/3 QPACK encoder-stream unbounded memory exhaustion DoS

{
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "cveMetadata": {
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-100662",
    "assignerOrgId": "83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10",
    "assignerShortName": "VulnCheck",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-09-26T13:23:28.990Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-26T02:33:59.039Z",
    "datePublished": "2026-09-26T13:23:28.990Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "providerMetadata": {
        "orgId": "83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10",
        "shortName": "VulnCheck",
        "dateUpdated": "2026-09-26T13:23:28.990Z"
      },
      "datePublic": "2026-09-10T00:00:00.000Z",
      "title": "Netty HTTP/3 QPACK encoder-stream unbounded memory exhaustion DoS",
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Netty's HTTP/3 codec (io.netty:netty-codec-http3) versions 4.2.0.Final through 4.2.17.Final contain an uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in the QPACK encoder-stream instruction decoder (QpackEncoderHandler, installed on the peer-initiated unidirectional QPACK encoder stream, type 0x02). The handler accepts an attacker-declared string-literal length of up to Integer.MAX_VALUE (~2 GiB) for the Name Length and Value Length fields of the \"Insert With Literal Name\" instruction (RFC 9204 §4.3.3), with no per-instruction or per-literal length cap and no cumulation-size limit; the existing HTTP/3 limits (maxHeaderListSize, maxUnknownFramePayloadLength, DEFAULT_MAX_FIELD_SECTION_SIZE) are not applied to this handler. A remote, unauthenticated peer with an established HTTP/3 connection to a default Netty HTTP/3 server can declare a very large literal length and then trickle fewer bytes than declared, causing the ByteToMessageDecoder MERGE cumulator to retain and grow the per-connection buffer, and ultimately triggering a large byte-array allocation. This leads to unbounded per-connection heap growth and OutOfMemoryError, resulting in denial of service. Fixed in 4.2.18.Final."
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "vendor": "netty",
          "product": "netty",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "4.2.0.Final",
              "status": "affected",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThan": "4.2.18.Final"
            },
            {
              "version": "4.2.18.Final",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "description": "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption",
              "cweId": "CWE-400",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-f64r-x647-cg8w",
          "name": "GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-f64r-x647-cg8w)",
          "tags": [
            "vendor-advisory"
          ]
        },
        {
          "url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/netty-http-3-qpack-encoder-stream-unbounded-memory-exhaustion-dos",
          "name": "VulnCheck Advisory: Netty HTTP/3 QPACK encoder-stream unbounded memory exhaustion DoS",
          "tags": [
            "third-party-advisory"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "format": "CVSS"
        },
        {
          "format": "CVSS",
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "version": "3.1",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "scope": "UNCHANGED",
            "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "integrityImpact": "NONE",
            "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
            "baseScore": 7.5,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH"
          }
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "manus-use",
          "type": "reporter"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}