Описание
Netty: HTTP Request Smuggling via Chunked Extension Quoted-String Parsing
Summary
Netty incorrectly parses quoted strings in HTTP/1.1 chunked transfer encoding extension values, enabling request smuggling attacks.
Background
This vulnerability is a new variant discovered during research into the "Funky Chunks" HTTP request smuggling techniques:
The original research tested various chunk extension parsing differentials but did not cover quoted-string handling within extension values.
Technical Details
RFC 9110 Section 7.1.1 defines chunked transfer encoding:
RFC 9110 Section 5.6.4 defines quoted-string:
Critically, the allowed character ranges within a quoted-string are:
CR (%x0D) and LF (%x0A) bytes fall outside all of these ranges and are therefore not permitted inside chunk extensions—whether quoted or unquoted. A strictly compliant parser should reject any request containing CR or LF bytes before the actual line terminator within a chunk extension with a 400 Bad Request response (as Squid does, for example).
Vulnerability
Netty terminates chunk header parsing at \r\n inside quoted strings instead of rejecting the request as malformed. This creates a parsing differential between Netty and RFC-compliant parsers, which can be exploited for request smuggling.
Expected behavior (RFC-compliant): A request containing CR/LF bytes within a chunk extension value should be rejected outright as invalid.
Actual behavior (Netty):
The root cause is that Netty does not validate that CR/LF bytes are forbidden inside chunk extensions before the terminating CRLF. Rather than attempting to parse through quoted strings, the appropriate fix is to reject such requests entirely.
Proof of Concept
Result: The server returns two HTTP responses from a single TCP connection, confirming request smuggling.
Parsing Breakdown
| Parser | Request 1 | Request 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Netty (vulnerable) | POST / body="X" | GET /smuggled (SMUGGLED) |
| RFC-compliant parser | 400 Bad Request | (none — malformed request rejected) |
Impact
- Request Smuggling: An attacker can inject arbitrary HTTP requests into a connection.
- Cache Poisoning: Smuggled responses may poison shared caches.
- Access Control Bypass: Smuggled requests can circumvent frontend security controls.
- Session Hijacking: Smuggled requests may intercept responses intended for other users.
Reproduction
- Start the minimal proof-of-concept environment using the provided Docker configuration.
- Execute the proof-of-concept script included in the attached archive.
Suggested Fix
The parser should reject requests containing CR or LF bytes within chunk extensions rather than attempting to interpret them:
Acknowledgments
Credit to Ben Kallus for clarifying the RFC interpretation during discussion on the HAProxy mailing list.
Resources
Attachments
Пакеты
io.netty:netty-codec-http
< 4.1.132.Final
4.1.132.Final
io.netty:netty-codec-http
>= 4.2.0.Alpha1, < 4.2.10.Final
4.2.10.Final
Связанные уязвимости
Netty is an asynchronous, event-driven network application framework. In versions prior to 4.1.132.Final and 4.2.10.Final, Netty incorrectly parses quoted strings in HTTP/1.1 chunked transfer encoding extension values, enabling request smuggling attacks. Versions 4.1.132.Final and 4.2.10.Final fix the issue.
Netty is an asynchronous, event-driven network application framework. In versions prior to 4.1.132.Final and 4.2.10.Final, Netty incorrectly parses quoted strings in HTTP/1.1 chunked transfer encoding extension values, enabling request smuggling attacks. Versions 4.1.132.Final and 4.2.10.Final fix the issue.
Netty is an asynchronous, event-driven network application framework. In versions prior to 4.1.132.Final and 4.2.10.Final, Netty incorrectly parses quoted strings in HTTP/1.1 chunked transfer encoding extension values, enabling request smuggling attacks. Versions 4.1.132.Final and 4.2.10.Final fix the issue.
Netty is an asynchronous, event-driven network application framework. ...
Уязвимость фреймворка для разработки сетевых приложений, серверов и клиентов протоколов Netty, связанная с недостатками обработки HTTP-запросов, позволяющая нарушителю отправить скрытый HTTP-запрос (атака типа HTTP Request Smuggling)