CVE-2026-100660 PUBLISHED

Netty before 4.2.18.Final QpackEncoder Unbounded Memory Retention

Assigner: VulnCheck
Reserved: 26.09.2026 Published: 26.09.2026 Updated: 26.09.2026

Netty's HTTP/3 codec (io.netty:netty-codec-http3) from 4.2.0.Final through 4.2.17.Final retains unbounded per-stream QPACK encoder state. QpackEncoder stores a queue and a dynamic-table index tracker for every encoded field section that references the QPACK dynamic table, keyed by the peer-controlled QUIC stream ID, and these entries are released only when the remote decoder sends a Section Acknowledgment or Stream Cancellation instruction — not when the HTTP/3 stream completes. There is no limit on the number of tracked streams, field sections, or retained bytes. A remote, unauthenticated HTTP/3 client can advertise a non-zero QPACK dynamic-table capacity, acknowledge the table insertion so the server reuses a dynamically indexed response header, and then omit all mandatory Section Acknowledgments while issuing sequential requests over a single QUIC connection, bypassing concurrent-stream limits and causing unbounded heap growth until the server exhausts memory (denial of service). Fixed in 4.2.18.Final.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS Score: 8.7

Product Status

Vendor netty
Product netty
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0 to 4.2.18.Final (excl.)
  • Version 4.2.18.Final is unaffected

Credits

  • hussst reporter

References

Problem Types

  • Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling CWE