CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2025-58056NVD status: Analyzed

netty: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests

CVE-2025-58056 is a high-severity inconsistent interpretation of HTTP requests vulnerability in netty, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected netty versions: >= 4.2.0.Alpha3, < 4.2.5.Final; <= 4.1.124.Final, < 4.1.125.Final. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.71% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 54% of scored CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Check which version of netty you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Nettynetty>= 4.2.0.Alpha3, < 4.2.5.Final; <= 4.1.124.Final, < 4.1.125.FinalNot stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
NoneNo data is disclosed.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
NoneAvailability is not affected.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N. Scored by NVD.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 4.02.9LowCNA (github.com)
CVSS 3.17.5HighNVD

Official description

Netty is an asynchronous event-driven network application framework for development of maintainable high performance protocol servers and clients. In versions 4.1.124.Final, and 4.2.0.Alpha3 through 4.2.4.Final, Netty incorrectly accepts standalone newline characters (LF) as a chunk-size line terminator, regardless of a preceding carriage return (CR), instead of requiring CRLF per HTTP/1.1 standards. When combined with reverse proxies that parse LF differently (treating it as part of the chunk extension), attackers can craft requests that the proxy sees as one request but Netty processes as two, enabling request smuggling attacks. This is fixed in versions 4.1.125.Final and 4.2.5.Final.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests

The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Use a web server that employs a strict HTTP parsing procedure, such as Apache.
  • Terminate the client session after each request.

More Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests vulnerabilities (CWE-444)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Third-party and government advisories

Other vulnerabilities in netty

All netty vulnerabilities

Recent Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests vulnerabilities

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