net/http: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests
CVE-2026-56866 is a high-severity inconsistent interpretation of HTTP requests vulnerability in net/http from Go standard library, 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. The record lists versions 1.26.9, 1.27.2 as the first without the flaw, so updating net/http to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update net/http to 1.26.9 or 1.27.2, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update net/http/httputil to 1.26.9 or 1.27.2, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go standard library | net/http | before 1.26.9; 1.27.0-0 up to, but not including, 1.27.2 | 1.26.9, 1.27.2 |
| Go standard library | net/http/httputil | before 1.26.9; 1.27.0-0 up to, but not including, 1.27.2 | 1.26.9, 1.27.2 |
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
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- NoneNothing can be modified.
- Availability
- NoneAvailability is not affected.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N. Scored by CISA (ADP).
Official description
When http.Transport sends an HTTP/1 CONNECT request with a non-empty Request.Body, it writes the body directly to the connection without framing after the request headers. If the server rejects the CONNECT request with a non-2xx keep-alive response, Transport returns the connection to the idle pool. Because CONNECT requests do not have a request body, the server may interpret the trailing body bytes as a subsequent pipelined HTTP/1.1 request on the connection, leaving the pooled connection desynchronized and causing the next caller that reuses it to read the response to the injected request. In reverse proxies (including httputil.ReverseProxy) that forward CONNECT requests through a shared Transport, this can lead to cross-user response poisoning.
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
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in net/http
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
Recent Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests vulnerabilities
- 7.5 High severity
- 10.0 Critical severity
- 7.3 High severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
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