CVE-2026-100657: Netty before 4.1.138.Final ByteBuf Leak in StompSubframeDecoder

Published Sep 26, 2026
·
Updated

Netty's STOMP codec (io.netty:netty-codec-stomp) contains a ByteBuf leak in StompSubframeDecoder. Once a frame's declared content-length has been fully read, the decoder allocates a chunk buffer from the channel allocator and parks it in an instance field while waiting for the single NUL byte that terminates the frame. If that byte never arrives, the buffer is never released: the replay Signal thrown by skipNullCharacter extends Error rather than Exception, so the decoder's catch(Exception) release path does not run, and StompSubframeDecoder overrides neither handlerRemoved0 nor channelInactive, so the buffer also survives channel teardown. A remote peer can leak one allocator buffer per connection by sending a complete, well-formed frame body and withholding its terminating NUL byte; with the default pooled allocator the memory is never returned to the pool or reclaimed by garbage collection, so the leak accumulates for the lifetime of the process and can lead to memory exhaustion. This affects versions up to and including 4.1.137.Final and versions 4.2.0.Final through 4.2.17.Final; it is fixed in 4.1.138.Final and 4.2.18.Final.

Affected Software

1 affected component
maven/io.netty/netty-codec-stomp<=4.1.137.Final, >=4.2.0.Final<=4.2.17.Final

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade io.netty:netty-codec-stomp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 4.1.138.Final
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade io.netty:netty-codec-stomp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 4.2.18.Final

Event History

Sep 26, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·01:23 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·01:23 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Data Sourced
via NVD·02:16 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness

Frequently Asked Questions

1

Which deployments are exposed to this issue?

Deployments using Netty's STOMP codec artifact, io.netty:netty-codec-stomp, are affected if they run versions up to and including 4.1.137.Final or versions from 4.2.0.Final through 4.2.17.Final. The issue is fixed in 4.1.138.Final and 4.2.18.Final.

2

What must an attacker do to trigger the leak?

A remote peer must be able to send STOMP frames to the affected decoder. It can trigger one allocator-buffer leak per connection by sending a complete, well-formed frame body with its declared content length, then withholding the final NUL terminator.

3

Is a non-default allocator configuration required for impact?

No. With Netty's default pooled allocator, the leaked memory is not returned to the pool or reclaimed by garbage collection, so leaked buffers accumulate for the lifetime of the process and can cause memory exhaustion.

4

How can I determine whether exploitation may be occurring?

Look for connections that deliver a complete STOMP frame body but do not send the required terminating NUL byte. Repeated instances across connections can correspond to allocator buffers accumulating until process memory is exhausted.

Contact

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