🛡️ CVE-2026-55833 — netty
Description
Netty SPDY zlib header block continues decoded expansion after maxHeaderSize truncation
Summary
Netty SPDY header decoding continues inflating zlib-compressed header blocks after the raw header parser has already exceeded maxHeaderSize and marked the frame truncated. At commit b2d2137c4404af425bf9d5d601a62576f5c06925, a 12,253-byte compressed SPDY header block can declare and inflate a 12 MiB header-name field with maxHeaderSize=16, forcing compression-amplified decode and skip work in a reachable SpdyFrameCodec pipeline.
PoC
[poc.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/28445780/poc.zip)
run with:
```bash
bash ./poc/run.sh
```
expected output:
```text
NETTY_SPDY_ZLIB_DECODED_AFTER_LIMIT_TRIGGERED compressed_bytes=12253 declared_name_length=12582912 max_header_size=16 truncated=true invalid=false
```
The fingerprint means the compressed input was fully consumed while the raw header parser ended with truncated=true and invalid=false after processing the oversized decoded name. That specific state distinguishes this bug from a generic setup failure: the maxHeaderSize guard fired, but the zlib/raw decode path still inflated and skipped the full 12 MiB declared name.
Impact
A remote unauthenticated peer that can speak SPDY to a Netty pipeline containing SpdyFrameCodec can send a small compressed HEADERS block that expands into much larger raw header data after the configured maxHeaderSize limit has already been exceeded. The attack requires a reachable SPDY codec, ordinary transport setup such as TCP and optional TLS, and no independent compressed-frame-size or connection-rate limit ahead of SpdyFrameCodec. The satisfied protocol guards are straightforward: the HEADERS frame uses a nonzero stream id and length >= 4, the decoder factory selects the zlib decoder, the payload uses the SPDY dictionary, and the raw block appends a zero-length value so the already-truncated frame reaches END_HEADER_BLOCK. The user-visible effect is denial of service through compression-amplified CPU and allocation churn.
How this vulnerability can be exploited
This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.
Weakness class
CVE-2026-55833 is classified as CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption. A request can consume memory, CPU or storage without limit, exhausting capacity for everyone else.
Affected software
CVE-2026-55833 is recorded against 2 packages.
- io.netty:netty-codec-http (from 4.1.0.Final up to 4.1.136.Final)
- netty (from 4.2.0 up to 4.2.16)
Timeline and source
Published on 22 July 2026 and last revised on 24 July 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.
References
github.com (Web)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Package)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
Details
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Affected Packages
| Software | From version | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| io.netty:netty-codec-http | 4.1.0.Final | 4.1.136.Final |
| netty | 4.2.0 | 4.2.16 |
References
Similar Threats
- Unknown CLSA-2025-1754611416
- Unknown CLSA-2025-1756771562
- Unknown CLSA-2025-1760313985
- Unknown CLSA-2025-1764202056
- Unknown CLSA-2026-1775521855
More CVE 2026 advisories
Browse all of CVE 2026 in the advisory index.
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