CVE-2026-45416

Netty: SNI handler pre-allocates up to 16 MiB from nine attacker bytes

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: June 12, 2026 at 02:10 PM UTC
Updated: September 18, 2026 at 02:29 PM UTC
12 products affected across 2 vendorsNettyBuild of KeycloakOpenShift AI

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.9%
SSVC
No known exploit

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 4.1.135v < 4.1.135.Finalv < 4.2.15.Final4.2.0 ≤ v < 4.2.15
Affected range stops below 4.1.135, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 4.1.135.Final, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 4.2.15, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 4.2.15.Final, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
All versions
All versions
All versions
Vendor states this is fixed in 1788198681 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (26)

x_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-x4gw-5cx5-pgmh
x_refsource_MISCRelease Notes
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.135.Final
x_refsource_MISCRelease Notes
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.15.Final
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26017
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26018
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26586
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:28573
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-45416

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.5HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-770

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