🛡️ CVE-2022-24761 on Debian — waitress
Description
Waitress is a Web Server Gateway Interface server for Python 2 and 3. When using Waitress versions 2.1.0 and prior behind a proxy that does not properly validate the incoming HTTP request matches the RFC7230 standard, Waitress and the frontend proxy may disagree on where one request starts and where it ends. This would allow requests to be smuggled via the front-end proxy to waitress and later behavior. There are two classes of vulnerability that may lead to request smuggling that are addressed by this advisory: The use of Python's int() to parse strings into integers, leading to +10 to be parsed as 10, or 0x01 to be parsed as 1, where as the standard specifies that the string should contain only digits or hex digits; and Waitress does not support chunk extensions, however it was discarding them without validating that they did not contain illegal characters. This vulnerability has been patched in Waitress 2.1.1. A workaround is available. When deploying a proxy in front of waitress, turning on any and all functionality to make sure that the request matches the RFC7230 standard. Certain proxy servers may not have this functionality though and users are encouraged to upgrade to the latest version of waitress instead.
Distribution advisory
This page covers CVE-2022-24761 as tracked by Debian, for the package waitress. The fix is available in version 2.1.1-1; earlier versions remain affected.
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 high, availability none.
Weakness class
DEBIAN-CVE-2022-24761 is classified as CWE-444: HTTP Request Smuggling. A proxy and a server disagree on where one request ends, letting an attacker slip a second request past the front end.
Affected software
DEBIAN-CVE-2022-24761 is recorded against 1 package.
- waitress (fixed in 2.1.1-1)
Timeline and source
Published on 17 March 2022 and last revised on 4 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.
References
CVE-2022-24761 on other distributions
Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:
Details
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Affected Packages
| Software | From version | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| waitress | — | 2.1.1-1 |
References
Similar Threats
- Unknown CLSA-2025-1750810247
- Unknown CLSA-2025-1750810248
- Unknown ECHO-283f-0619-628b
- Unknown ECHO-b844-fa43-fd25
- Unknown DLA-3955-1
Site Security Check
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