GHSA-6cqp-g7gg-8hr5
Netty: Security Control Bypass via CORS Short-Circuit Failure
Quick fix
GHSA-6cqp-g7gg-8hr5 — io.netty:netty-codec-http: upgrade to the fixed version with the command below.
# pom.xml: bump <version>4.2.16.Final</version> for io.netty:netty-codec-http Details
### Summary Netty's CorsHandler provides a `shortCircuit()` configuration designed to reject unauthorized cross-origin requests immediately, acting as a security control before requests reach the application. However, due to a logical operator error in the origin evaluation process, this protection can be entirely bypassed. An attacker can bypass the short-circuit mechanism by sending a request with an `Origin: null` header. This failure forwards unauthorized requests to the backend application, bypassing intended access controls.
### Details In `io.netty.handler.codec.http.cors.CorsHandler#channelRead`, the short-circuit logic relies on the configuration returned by `getForOrigin(origin)` to determine if an origin is authorized. If `getForOrigin` returns a configuration object, the short-circuit check `(!(origin == null || config != null))` is bypassed, and the request proceeds to the backend.
The vulnerability is located in the `getForOrigin` method:
```java if (corsConfig.isNullOriginAllowed() || NULL_ORIGIN.equals(requestOrigin)) { return corsConfig; } ```
If an attacker sends `Origin: null`, `NULL_ORIGIN.equals(requestOrigin)` evaluates to true. The method returns the configuration object regardless of whether `isNullOriginAllowed()` was configured by the developer. The short-circuit is bypassed.
### Impact Applications relying on CorsHandler's short-circuit feature to prevent unauthorized cross-origin requests from reaching their backend logic are completely exposed. The framework fails to enforce the developer's intended access controls, allowing unauthorized requests to be processed.
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Affected packages
4.2.0.Final Fixed in: 4.2.16.Final # pom.xml: bump <version>4.2.16.Final</version> for io.netty:netty-codec-http 0 Fixed in: 4.1.136.Final # pom.xml: bump <version>4.1.136.Final</version> for io.netty:netty-codec-http References
- https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-6cqp-g7gg-8hr5 [WEB]
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-56746 [ADVISORY]
- https://github.com/netty/netty [PACKAGE]
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.136.Final [WEB]
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.16.Final [WEB]