GHSA-4899-MPCH-38P3
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-08-20 18:43 – Updated: 2026-08-20 18:43BinaryHttpParser: Unauthenticated CPU-exhaustion DoS via infinite loop in field-section decoding
- ID: BHTTP-LOOP-001
- Severity: High
- CVSS v3.1: 7.5 —
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CWE: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition) — secondary CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)
- Affected component:
codec-bhttp→io.netty.incubator.codec.bhttp.BinaryHttpParser#readFieldSection, filecodec-bhttp/src/main/java/io/netty/incubator/codec/bhttp/BinaryHttpParser.java:619-626 - Affected version: netty-incubator-codec-ohttp HEAD
d3f2b49(release0.0.22.Final+ 3 commits). The loop has existed since the parser was introduced and is present in the latest code; all published advisory fixes are already applied. - Reachable from:
io.netty.incubator.codec.ohttp.OHttpRequestResponseContext$ContentDecoder#decodeChunk(codec-ohttp/.../OHttpRequestResponseContext.java:214), i.e. the auto-wired OHTTP server and client codecs. - Confidence: High (empirically reproduced hang + thread dump against the unmodified parser).
Summary
BinaryHttpParser decodes Binary HTTP (RFC 9292) messages. An OHTTP gateway/client built on this library feeds the decrypted OHTTP body straight into BinaryHttpParser.parse(...). The field-section decoding loop terminates only on the exact condition fieldSectionLength != 0 and relies on a Java assert to guarantee forward progress. Because (a) the loop counter can be driven negative and (b) readFieldLine(...) legitimately consumes zero bytes and returns null on a truncated/over-long field line, the loop can spin forever. Assertions are disabled in any normal production JVM, so the two assert statements meant to catch this provide no protection.
A single ~17-byte Binary HTTP message — encapsulated by an unauthenticated attacker inside a normal OHTTP request, using the gateway's public key configuration — pins one Netty event-loop thread at 100% CPU permanently. A handful of such requests exhausts the entire event-loop group and takes the OHTTP gateway (or client) fully offline.
Root cause
BinaryHttpParser.java:619-626:
HeaderType lastType = HeaderType.PSEUDO_HEADER;
while (fieldSectionLength != 0) { // 619 — "!= 0", not "> 0"
int readableBytes = in.readableBytes();
lastType = readFieldLine(in, headers, lastType, trailers);
assert lastType != null; // 622 — no-op without -ea
int read = readableBytes - in.readableBytes();
assert read > 0; // 624 — no-op without -ea
fieldSectionLength -= read; // 625
}
Two cooperating defects:
-
Counter can never hit zero.
fieldSectionLengthis the declared field-section byte length read from the wire (line 592). The loop subtracts the bytes eachreadFieldLineactually consumes. If a field line consumes more bytes than the (attacker-understated) declared length,fieldSectionLengthgoes negative and!= 0stays true forever. -
Zero-progress iterations.
readFieldLine(lines 654-707) returnsnullwithout consuming any bytes when the remaining buffer cannot hold a complete field line — at lines 656, 664, 670, and 681 (thein.skipBytes(sumBytes)that advances the reader is only reached on the success path, line 705). When it returnsnull,read == 0,fieldSectionLengthis unchanged, and the loop re-enters with identical state — a tight busy spin.
The only constructs that would have stopped either case are the assert statements on lines 622 and 624, which the JVM strips unless started with -ea. Production deployments do not run with assertions enabled.
Reachability (hop-by-hop, every guard resolved)
Attacker model: OHTTP gateways publish their HPKE key configuration so that any client can encrypt requests to them. The attacker therefore encrypts a malicious BHTTP body under the gateway's public key — a perfectly valid OHTTP request. HPKE decapsulation succeeds; the plaintext is attacker-chosen.
OHttpServerCodec.decode→OHttpRequestResponseContext.parse→ chunk decode →ContentDecoder.decodeChunk.OHttpRequestResponseContext.java:211decrypts the chunk intodecryptedChunk; line 212 cumulates it; line 214 callsbinaryHttpParser.parse(binaryHttpCumulation, completeBodyReceived)— attacker-controlled plaintext, no application code in between.parse→READ_KNOWN_LENGTH_REQUEST_HEAD→readRequestHead(line 190).readRequestHeadreads the control data, then at lines 445-451 slices all remaining readable bytes as the field section and callsreadFieldSection(..., knownLength=true, maxFieldSectionSize).- Inside
readFieldSection: - Guard
checkFieldSectionTooLarge(fieldSectionLength, max)(line 607): bounds only the declared length, which the PoC sets to1. Passes — not a barrier. - Guard
in.readableBytes() < sumBytes(line 609):sumBytesis built from the declared length, also tiny. Passes — not a barrier. - Guards
assert(lines 622, 624): no-ops in production. Defeated by default. - Loop entered → spins forever (defects 1 + 2).
No reachable guard bounds the actual consumption or forces progress. maxFieldSectionSize is irrelevant because the declared length is small and the loop is CPU-bound on a fixed, small buffer (no allocation, no memory growth to trip any size cap).
Proof of concept (executed locally, benign liveness oracle)
The real codec-bhttp sources were compiled unmodified against netty 4.1.135.Final (the version pinned in pom.xml). The harness builds a valid known-length BHTTP request whose declared field-section length (0x01) is understated relative to the actual field line, then calls parse(in, true) on a worker thread with a 6-second watchdog. No payload, no side effects — purely a timing/CPU oracle.
Malicious message (17 bytes):
00 01 67 01 68 01 61 01 70 01 01 61 01 62 01 63 01
│ └method g └scheme h └auth a └path p │ └hdr a:b──┘ └ partial line
└ framing 0 (known-length request) └ declared field-section length = 1
Observed (production default, assertions OFF):
[*] malicious BHTTP bytes (17): 0001670168016101700101610162016301
[!!] HANG CONFIRMED: parse() still running after 6000 ms
[!!] worker thread CPU time: 6029 ms (≈100% of one core => busy spin)
[!!] worker stack (top frames):
at io.netty.incubator.codec.bhttp.BinaryHttpParser.readFieldSection(BinaryHttpParser.java:626)
at io.netty.incubator.codec.bhttp.BinaryHttpParser.readRequestHead(BinaryHttpParser.java:451)
at io.netty.incubator.codec.bhttp.BinaryHttpParser.parse(BinaryHttpParser.java:190)
CPU time ≈ wall time ⇒ a busy spin (RUNNABLE), not a blocked wait.
Controls:
- Same input with -ea: parse() throws AssertionError at readFieldSection:624 immediately — proving the assertion is the only would-be guard and is absent in production.
- Well-formed request (declared length matches): parse() returns DefaultBinaryHttpRequest promptly — proving the harness does not hang on valid input.
PoC sources: findings/netty-incubator-codec-ohttp/raw/Poc.java (hang + control 1) and raw/Poc2.java (negative control).
Impact
Unauthenticated, pre-business-logic remote denial of service. Each malicious request permanently consumes one Netty event-loop thread at 100% CPU. Netty event-loop groups have a small fixed thread count (default 2 × cores); a handful of requests exhausts every I/O thread, after which the gateway/client accepts no further connections and serves no traffic — a complete, persistent DoS that survives until process restart. Availability impact High; no confidentiality/integrity impact.
Adversarial re-reading (attempts to refute)
- "
maxFieldSectionSizecaps it." No — the declared length in the PoC is1; the cap (line 607) checks the declared value only. The spin happens on a 17-byte buffer with no allocation. Refutation fails. - "An upstream HTTP size limit /
HttpObjectAggregatorblocks it." No — the bug is CPU-bound, not memory-bound. The whole malicious message is tiny and well within any size limit. Refutation fails. - "This is just CVE-2024-40642 (absent input validation)." No — that advisory was about missing validation of method/scheme/authority/path enabling injection; that fix (the
ALLOWED_TOKEN/ALLOWED_SCHEMEvalidators, lines 76-122/461-466) is present and unrelated. This is a control-flow/termination defect in field-section length accounting. Distinct class, distinct code. - "The hang might be a harness artifact." No — the thread dump pinpoints
readFieldSection:626; CPU≈wall confirms a spin; the-eacontrol throws at the exact assert; the well-formed control returns. The hang is for the claimed reason. - "
completeBodyReceivedmust be true." Not required — the loop is insidereadFieldSection, reached viareadRequestHeadonce the control data is present, independent of that flag. The flag only affects a branch taken afterreadRequestHeadreturnsnull, which never happens here.
No concrete blocker survived. Verdict: CONFIRMED.
Remediation
- Change the loop exit condition to
while (fieldSectionLength > 0)so an overshoot (negative counter) terminates. - Treat a
null/ zero-progress return fromreadFieldLinewhilefieldSectionLength > 0as a hard framing error — throwCorruptedFrameException("truncated or over-long field line")instead of re-looping. - Reject any field line whose consumed byte count would drive
fieldSectionLengthbelow 0 (the declared length must be consumed exactly, per RFC 9292 §3.6). - Do not rely on
assertfor wire-format invariants on attacker-controlled input; assertions are disabled in production. Promote lines 622/624 to explicit exceptions.
Example:
while (fieldSectionLength > 0) {
int readableBytes = in.readableBytes();
lastType = readFieldLine(in, headers, lastType, trailers);
int read = readableBytes - in.readableBytes();
if (lastType == null || read <= 0) {
throw new CorruptedFrameException("truncated or over-long field line");
}
if (read > fieldSectionLength) {
throw new CorruptedFrameException("field line exceeds declared field-section length");
}
fieldSectionLength -= read;
}
Notes
- The indeterminate-length field-section path (framing indicators 2/3) shares the same loop and the same
!= 0/ zero-progress structure; the fix above should cover both. A dedicated trace ofgetIndeterminateLength(lines 538-566) under non-defaultmaxFieldSectionSizeis recorded separately as a lead. - Default
maxFieldSectionSizefor the OHTTP codecs is8 * 1024(OHttpCodecBuilder.DEFAULT_MAX_FIELD_SECTION_SIZE), and is irrelevant to this CPU-bound spin.
{
"affected": [
{
"database_specific": {
"last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 0.0.22.Final"
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Maven",
"name": "io.netty.incubator:netty-incubator-codec-bhttp"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.0.23.Final"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-63202"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-400",
"CWE-835"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-08-20T18:43:38Z",
"nvd_published_at": null,
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "# BinaryHttpParser: Unauthenticated CPU-exhaustion DoS via infinite loop in field-section decoding\n\n- **ID:** BHTTP-LOOP-001\n- **Severity:** High\n- **CVSS v3.1:** 7.5 \u2014 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`\n- **CWE:** CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition) \u2014 secondary CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)\n- **Affected component:** `codec-bhttp` \u2192 `io.netty.incubator.codec.bhttp.BinaryHttpParser#readFieldSection`, file `codec-bhttp/src/main/java/io/netty/incubator/codec/bhttp/BinaryHttpParser.java:619-626`\n- **Affected version:** netty-incubator-codec-ohttp HEAD `d3f2b49` (release `0.0.22.Final` + 3 commits). The loop has existed since the parser was introduced and is present in the latest code; all published advisory fixes are already applied.\n- **Reachable from:** `io.netty.incubator.codec.ohttp.OHttpRequestResponseContext$ContentDecoder#decodeChunk` (`codec-ohttp/.../OHttpRequestResponseContext.java:214`), i.e. the auto-wired OHTTP server **and** client codecs.\n- **Confidence:** High (empirically reproduced hang + thread dump against the unmodified parser).\n\n## Summary\n\n`BinaryHttpParser` decodes Binary HTTP (RFC 9292) messages. An OHTTP gateway/client built on this library feeds the **decrypted** OHTTP body straight into `BinaryHttpParser.parse(...)`. The field-section decoding loop terminates only on the exact condition `fieldSectionLength != 0` and relies on a Java `assert` to guarantee forward progress. Because (a) the loop counter can be driven negative and (b) `readFieldLine(...)` legitimately consumes **zero** bytes and returns `null` on a truncated/over-long field line, the loop can spin forever. Assertions are disabled in any normal production JVM, so the two `assert` statements meant to catch this provide no protection.\n\nA single ~17-byte Binary HTTP message \u2014 encapsulated by an unauthenticated attacker inside a normal OHTTP request, using the gateway\u0027s **public** key configuration \u2014 pins one Netty event-loop thread at 100% CPU permanently. A handful of such requests exhausts the entire event-loop group and takes the OHTTP gateway (or client) fully offline.\n\n## Root cause\n\n`BinaryHttpParser.java:619-626`:\n\n```java\nHeaderType lastType = HeaderType.PSEUDO_HEADER;\nwhile (fieldSectionLength != 0) { // 619 \u2014 \"!= 0\", not \"\u003e 0\"\n int readableBytes = in.readableBytes();\n lastType = readFieldLine(in, headers, lastType, trailers);\n assert lastType != null; // 622 \u2014 no-op without -ea\n int read = readableBytes - in.readableBytes();\n assert read \u003e 0; // 624 \u2014 no-op without -ea\n fieldSectionLength -= read; // 625\n}\n```\n\nTwo cooperating defects:\n\n1. **Counter can never hit zero.** `fieldSectionLength` is the *declared* field-section byte length read from the wire (line 592). The loop subtracts the bytes each `readFieldLine` actually consumes. If a field line consumes more bytes than the (attacker-understated) declared length, `fieldSectionLength` goes negative and `!= 0` stays true forever.\n\n2. **Zero-progress iterations.** `readFieldLine` (lines 654-707) returns `null` **without consuming any bytes** when the remaining buffer cannot hold a complete field line \u2014 at lines 656, 664, 670, and 681 (the `in.skipBytes(sumBytes)` that advances the reader is only reached on the success path, line 705). When it returns `null`, `read == 0`, `fieldSectionLength` is unchanged, and the loop re-enters with identical state \u2014 a tight busy spin.\n\nThe only constructs that would have stopped either case are the `assert` statements on lines 622 and 624, which the JVM strips unless started with `-ea`. Production deployments do not run with assertions enabled.\n\n## Reachability (hop-by-hop, every guard resolved)\n\nAttacker model: OHTTP gateways publish their HPKE key configuration so that *any* client can encrypt requests to them. The attacker therefore encrypts a malicious BHTTP body under the gateway\u0027s public key \u2014 a perfectly valid OHTTP request. HPKE decapsulation succeeds; the plaintext is attacker-chosen.\n\n1. `OHttpServerCodec.decode` \u2192 `OHttpRequestResponseContext.parse` \u2192 chunk decode \u2192 `ContentDecoder.decodeChunk`.\n2. `OHttpRequestResponseContext.java:211` decrypts the chunk into `decryptedChunk`; line 212 cumulates it; **line 214** calls `binaryHttpParser.parse(binaryHttpCumulation, completeBodyReceived)` \u2014 attacker-controlled plaintext, no application code in between.\n3. `parse` \u2192 `READ_KNOWN_LENGTH_REQUEST_HEAD` \u2192 `readRequestHead` (line 190).\n4. `readRequestHead` reads the control data, then at lines 445-451 slices **all** remaining readable bytes as the field section and calls `readFieldSection(..., knownLength=true, maxFieldSectionSize)`.\n5. Inside `readFieldSection`:\n - **Guard `checkFieldSectionTooLarge(fieldSectionLength, max)` (line 607):** bounds only the *declared* length, which the PoC sets to `1`. **Passes \u2014 not a barrier.**\n - **Guard `in.readableBytes() \u003c sumBytes` (line 609):** `sumBytes` is built from the *declared* length, also tiny. **Passes \u2014 not a barrier.**\n - **Guards `assert` (lines 622, 624):** no-ops in production. **Defeated by default.**\n - Loop entered \u2192 spins forever (defects 1 + 2).\n\nNo reachable guard bounds the *actual* consumption or forces progress. `maxFieldSectionSize` is irrelevant because the declared length is small and the loop is CPU-bound on a fixed, small buffer (no allocation, no memory growth to trip any size cap).\n\n## Proof of concept (executed locally, benign liveness oracle)\n\nThe real `codec-bhttp` sources were compiled unmodified against netty `4.1.135.Final` (the version pinned in `pom.xml`). The harness builds a valid known-length BHTTP request whose declared field-section length (`0x01`) is understated relative to the actual field line, then calls `parse(in, true)` on a worker thread with a 6-second watchdog. No payload, no side effects \u2014 purely a timing/CPU oracle.\n\nMalicious message (17 bytes):\n```\n00 01 67 01 68 01 61 01 70 01 01 61 01 62 01 63 01\n\u2502 \u2514method g \u2514scheme h \u2514auth a \u2514path p \u2502 \u2514hdr a:b\u2500\u2500\u2518 \u2514 partial line\n\u2514 framing 0 (known-length request) \u2514 declared field-section length = 1\n```\n\nObserved (production default, assertions OFF):\n```\n[*] malicious BHTTP bytes (17): 0001670168016101700101610162016301\n[!!] HANG CONFIRMED: parse() still running after 6000 ms\n[!!] worker thread CPU time: 6029 ms (\u2248100% of one core =\u003e busy spin)\n[!!] worker stack (top frames):\n at io.netty.incubator.codec.bhttp.BinaryHttpParser.readFieldSection(BinaryHttpParser.java:626)\n at io.netty.incubator.codec.bhttp.BinaryHttpParser.readRequestHead(BinaryHttpParser.java:451)\n at io.netty.incubator.codec.bhttp.BinaryHttpParser.parse(BinaryHttpParser.java:190)\n```\nCPU time \u2248 wall time \u21d2 a busy spin (RUNNABLE), not a blocked wait.\n\nControls:\n- **Same input with `-ea`:** `parse()` throws `AssertionError` at `readFieldSection:624` immediately \u2014 proving the assertion is the only would-be guard and is absent in production.\n- **Well-formed request (declared length matches):** `parse()` returns `DefaultBinaryHttpRequest` promptly \u2014 proving the harness does not hang on valid input.\n\nPoC sources: `findings/netty-incubator-codec-ohttp/raw/Poc.java` (hang + control 1) and `raw/Poc2.java` (negative control).\n\n## Impact\n\nUnauthenticated, pre-business-logic remote denial of service. Each malicious request permanently consumes one Netty event-loop thread at 100% CPU. Netty event-loop groups have a small fixed thread count (default `2 \u00d7 cores`); a handful of requests exhausts every I/O thread, after which the gateway/client accepts no further connections and serves no traffic \u2014 a complete, persistent DoS that survives until process restart. Availability impact High; no confidentiality/integrity impact.\n\n## Adversarial re-reading (attempts to refute)\n\n- *\"`maxFieldSectionSize` caps it.\"* No \u2014 the declared length in the PoC is `1`; the cap (line 607) checks the declared value only. The spin happens on a 17-byte buffer with no allocation. Refutation fails.\n- *\"An upstream HTTP size limit / `HttpObjectAggregator` blocks it.\"* No \u2014 the bug is CPU-bound, not memory-bound. The whole malicious message is tiny and well within any size limit. Refutation fails.\n- *\"This is just CVE-2024-40642 (absent input validation).\"* No \u2014 that advisory was about missing validation of method/scheme/authority/path enabling injection; that fix (the `ALLOWED_TOKEN`/`ALLOWED_SCHEME` validators, lines 76-122/461-466) is present and unrelated. This is a control-flow/termination defect in field-section length accounting. Distinct class, distinct code.\n- *\"The hang might be a harness artifact.\"* No \u2014 the thread dump pinpoints `readFieldSection:626`; CPU\u2248wall confirms a spin; the `-ea` control throws at the exact assert; the well-formed control returns. The hang is for the claimed reason.\n- *\"`completeBodyReceived` must be true.\"* Not required \u2014 the loop is inside `readFieldSection`, reached via `readRequestHead` once the control data is present, independent of that flag. The flag only affects a branch taken *after* `readRequestHead` returns `null`, which never happens here.\n\nNo concrete blocker survived. Verdict: **CONFIRMED**.\n\n## Remediation\n\n1. Change the loop exit condition to `while (fieldSectionLength \u003e 0)` so an overshoot (negative counter) terminates.\n2. Treat a `null` / zero-progress return from `readFieldLine` while `fieldSectionLength \u003e 0` as a hard framing error \u2014 throw `CorruptedFrameException(\"truncated or over-long field line\")` instead of re-looping.\n3. Reject any field line whose consumed byte count would drive `fieldSectionLength` below 0 (the declared length must be consumed exactly, per RFC 9292 \u00a73.6).\n4. Do not rely on `assert` for wire-format invariants on attacker-controlled input; assertions are disabled in production. Promote lines 622/624 to explicit exceptions.\n\nExample:\n```java\nwhile (fieldSectionLength \u003e 0) {\n int readableBytes = in.readableBytes();\n lastType = readFieldLine(in, headers, lastType, trailers);\n int read = readableBytes - in.readableBytes();\n if (lastType == null || read \u003c= 0) {\n throw new CorruptedFrameException(\"truncated or over-long field line\");\n }\n if (read \u003e fieldSectionLength) {\n throw new CorruptedFrameException(\"field line exceeds declared field-section length\");\n }\n fieldSectionLength -= read;\n}\n```\n\n## Notes\n\n- The indeterminate-length field-section path (framing indicators 2/3) shares the same loop and the same `!= 0` / zero-progress structure; the fix above should cover both. A dedicated trace of `getIndeterminateLength` (lines 538-566) under non-default `maxFieldSectionSize` is recorded separately as a lead.\n- Default `maxFieldSectionSize` for the OHTTP codecs is `8 * 1024` (`OHttpCodecBuilder.DEFAULT_MAX_FIELD_SECTION_SIZE`), and is irrelevant to this CPU-bound spin.",
"id": "GHSA-4899-mpch-38p3",
"modified": "2026-08-20T18:43:38Z",
"published": "2026-08-20T18:43:38Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty-incubator-codec-ohttp/security/advisories/GHSA-4899-mpch-38p3"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty-incubator-codec-ohttp"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/netty/netty-incubator-codec-ohttp/releases/tag/netty-incubator-codec-parent-ohttp-0.0.23.Final"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "netty-incubator-codec-ohttp BinaryHttpParser: Unauthenticated CPU-exhaustion DoS via infinite loop in field-section decoding"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.