CVE-2026-55851
Netty is a network application framework for development of protocol servers and clients.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.61%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
Netty is a network application framework for development of protocol servers and clients. In versions 4.2.0.Final up to (but not including) 4.2.16.Final, and 4.1.0.Final up to (but not including) 4.1.135, the `HAProxyMessageDecoder` in Netty's `codec-haproxy` module performs protocol version detection by reading the 13th byte as a signed Java `byte` and widening it to `int` without masking; a PROXY protocol v2 binary prefix followed by version byte `0xFF` sign-extends to `-1`, collides with the decoder's need-more-data sentinel, and causes `ByteToMessageDecoder` to accumulate inbound bytes in an unbounded `cumulation` buffer until direct memory is exhausted. This issue is fixed in versions 4.1.136.Final and 4.2.16.Final.
- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/M
- EPSS
- 0.61% probability · 47th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-400
- Affected
- netty/netty
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
References
- https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/5b68c61f37aa4a3045cba624cbea239655c9003bPatch
- https://github.com/netty/netty/commit/bb2ff68a1fb71cb4b0eb9a9e17b66c52aff680c6Patch
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.136.FinalRelease Notes
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.16.FinalRelease Notes
- https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-q6cq-mhr2-jmr5Vendor Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.