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Vulnerability · Published Sep 15, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2026-54251netty-incubator-codec-ohttp: [OHttpServerCodec] Native Direct-Memory Leak on AEAD Decryption Failure Leads to Gateway Denial of Service

High 8.7

In plain English

A high-severity security flaw in netty-incubator-codec-ohttp from io.netty.incubator. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.5% (higher than 43% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 4.0)8.7High
Exploit odds (30 days)0.5%top 56.6% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

netty-incubator-codec-ohttp implements Oblivious HTTP (OHTTP) gateway and client functionality using Netty. Prior to 0.0.23.Final, the OHTTP gateway decryption path in codec-ohttp/src/main/java/io/netty/incubator/codec/ohttp/OHttpRequestResponseContext.java allocates a pooled direct ByteBuf for decrypted plaintext before the AEAD tag is verified. When an invalid tag causes decryptChunk() to throw CryptoException, OHttpRequestResponseContext.decodeChunk() does not release the ByteBuf because the allocation is not guarded by try/finally. Repeated invalid encrypted requests can therefore leak native off-heap memory until the gateway is unable to continue serving requests. This issue is fixed in version 0.0.23.Final.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Mavenio.netty.incubator:netty-incubator-codec-ohttp0.0.23.FinalGHSA-vmr9-j6wf-pmh2

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
netty netty-incubator-codec-ohttp < 0.0.23.Final
io.netty.incubator netty-incubator-codec-ohttp < 0.0.23.Final

Weakness: CWE-664 · 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

References