The Vert.x Web static handler component cache can be manipulated to deny the access to static files served by the handler using specifically crafted request URI.
The issue comes from an improper implementation of the C. rule of section 5.2.4 of RFC3986 and is fixed in Vert.x Core component (used by Vert.x Web): https://github.com/eclipse-vertx/vert.x/pull/5895
Steps to reproduce
Given a file served by the static handler, craft an URI that introduces a string like bar%2F..%2F after the last / char to deny the access to the URI with an HTTP 404 response. For example https://example.com/foo/index.html can be denied with https://example.com/foo/bar%2F..%2Findex.html
Mitgation
Disabling Static Handler cache fixes the issue.
StaticHandler staticHandler = StaticHandler.create().setCachingEnabled(false);
| Score | Percentile |
|---|---|
| 0.02% | 5.55% |
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.9 | 4.0 | — |
|
| Type | Value |
|---|---|
| GHSA | GHSA-cphf-4846-3xx9 ↗ |
| CVE | CVE-2026-1002 ↗ |
| CWE id | Name |
|---|---|
| CWE-444 | Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling') |
Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | First patched | Vulnerable functions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| maven | io.vertx:vertx-core | < 4.5.24 | 4.5.24 | — |
| maven | io.vertx:vertx-core | >= 5.0.0.CR1, < 5.0.7 | 5.0.7 | — |