CVE-2026-45416

Description

Netty is a network application framework for development of protocol servers and clients. Prior to versions 4.1.135.Final and 4.2.15.Final, SslClientHelloHandler.decode() reads the 24-bit TLS handshake length and, when the ClientHello does not fit in the first record, eagerly allocates `ctx.alloc().buffer(handshakeLength)` (line 161). The guard at line 140 is `handshakeLength > maxClientHelloLength && maxClientHelloLength != 0`, and the commonly-used SniHandler/AbstractSniHandler constructors (SniHandler(Mapping), SniHandler(AsyncMapping), AbstractSniHandler()) pass maxClientHelloLength=0 and handshakeTimeoutMillis=0, so the length guard is disabled and no timeout is scheduled. A 16 MiB request exceeds the default pooled chunk size and becomes a huge/unpooled allocation performed immediately. The buffer is retained in the handler until the channel closes. Versions 4.1.135.Final and 4.2.15.Final patch the issue.

CVSS v3.1 Score

7.5

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0046

Probability of exploitation

0.37%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-770 CWE-770

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
netty	netty	< 4.1.135
netty	netty	4.2.0 — 4.2.15

References

Advisories & Patches

https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-x4gw-5cx5-pgmh

Other References

https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.135.Final https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.15.Final

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-45416? +

Netty is a network application framework for development of protocol servers and clients. Prior to versions 4.1.135.Final and 4.2.15.Final, SslClientHelloHandler.decode() reads the 24-bit TLS handshake length and, when the ClientHello does not fit in the first record, eagerly allocates `ctx.alloc().buffer(handshakeLength)` (line 161). The guard at line 140 is `handshakeLength > maxClientHelloLength && maxClientHelloLength != 0`, and the commonly-used SniHandler/AbstractSniHandler constructors (SniHandler(Mapping), SniHandler(AsyncMapping), AbstractSniHandler()) pass maxClientHelloLength=0 and handshakeTimeoutMillis=0, so the length guard is disabled and no timeout is scheduled. A 16 MiB request exceeds the default pooled chunk size and becomes a huge/unpooled allocation performed immediately. The buffer is retained in the handler until the channel closes. Versions 4.1.135.Final and 4.2.15.Final patch the issue. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-45416? +

CVE-2026-45416 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0046, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

What products are affected by CVE-2026-45416? +

CVE-2026-45416 affects products from netty, specifically: netty. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-45416? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

Related Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-39313

mcp-framework is a framework for building Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. In versions 0.2.21 and below, the readRequestBody() function in …

CVE-2026-35469

spdystream is a Go library for multiplexing streams over SPDY connections. In versions 0.5.0 and below, the SPDY/3 frame parser …

CVE-2026-39803

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in mtrudel bandit allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via memory exhaustion. …

CVE-2026-39804

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in mtrudel bandit allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via memory exhaustion …

CVE-2026-32688

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in elixir-plug plug_cowboy allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via atom table …

CVE-2024-45484

An Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in the operating system network configuration used in B&R APROL <4.4-00P5 …