netty-codec-http2: ByteBuf Reference-Count Leak in DelegatingDecompressorFrameListener Leads to Memory Exhaustion

CVE-2026-48043 → View on GitHub ↗ View on CVE.org ↗ View on NVD ↗

Description

Impact

The DelegatingDecompressorFrameListener class orchestrates HTTP/2 decompression by embedding a per-stream EmbeddedChannel that runs the appropriate decompression codec (gzip, deflate, zstd) and forwards decompressed chunks to a wrapped listener. Each decompressed chunk is a pooled ByteBuf handed to an anonymous ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter tail handler, which becomes the sole owner responsible for releasing it.

A remote peer could send frames that would result in the flow-controller throwing and so trigger a resource leak which at the end might take down the whole JVM due OOME.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2026-06-11 13:28:46 UTC
Updated
2026-06-12 19:31:48 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2026-06-11 13:28:46 UTC
NVD published
2026-06-12

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.04% 11.43%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.3 3.1 —
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-c2gf-v879-257j ↗
CVE CVE-2026-48043 ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-400 Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
CWE-401 Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

Affected packages (2)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
maven io.netty:netty-codec-http2 <= 4.1.134.Final 4.1.135.Final —
maven io.netty:netty-codec-http2 >= 4.2.0.Alpha1, <= 4.2.14.Final 4.2.15.Final —

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence