High severity · published Sep 26, 2026
CVE-2026-100661
Netty HTTP/3 QPACK Prefixed Integer DoS via Unbounded Accumulation
7.5
CVSS
0.3%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Netty's HTTP/3 codec (io.netty:netty-codec-http3) versions 4.2.0.Final through 4.2.17.Final contain a denial-of-service vulnerability in the QPACK prefixed-integer decoder (QpackUtil.decodePrefixedInteger), which does not bound the number of continuation bytes it will process. A remote, unauthenticated peer can open a QPACK unidirectional stream (type 0x02 encoder or 0x03 decoder) and send a first byte with all prefix bits set (e.g. 0xFF for a 7-bit prefix or 0x3F for a 5-bit prefix) followed by an endless run of 0x80 continuation bytes. The decoder returns -1 ('need more bytes'), so callers never consume the input, the ByteToMessageDecoder cumulator grows without bound, and each decode() invocation re-scans the whole accumulated buffer, yielding O(N^2) CPU cost. The result is unbounded per-connection heap growth (OutOfMemoryError) and event-loop CPU starvation, reachable in every configuration. Fixed in 4.2.18.Final.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.3% · higher than 28% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
NE
netty · netty
4.2.0.Final before 4.2.18.Final · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-100661
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-100661
vendor-advisory
https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-v5p2-hmgx-3xrx
third-party-advisory
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/netty-http-3-qpack-prefixed-integer-dos-via-unbounded-accumulation
More from netty
7.5
CVE-2023-44487
HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Attack Vulnerability
10.0
CVE-2026-47691
Netty has Insufficient Bailiwick Validation for NS Records
10.0
CVE-2026-45674
Netty Vulnerable to DNS Cache Poisoning via Missing Bailiwick Checks in CNAME Records
9.8
CVE-2026-56817
Netty: XML External Entity (XXE) injection via unconfigured XML factory when DTD and entity processing are enabled
9.8
CVE-2026-42581
Netty: HTTP/1.0 TE+CL Coexistence Bypasses Smuggling Sanitization
