Netty's Lack of Lifecycle Cleanup Leads to Pooled ByteBuf Leak in RedisArrayAggregator

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS 4.0

8.7 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2026-48006: 0.74% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 54.67 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact The RedisArrayAggregator handler permanently leaks pooled direct-memory buffers when a Redis pipeline connection closes before a RESP array aggregate completes. The handler retains child messages in per-handler state (depths field) but defines no channelInactive, handlerRemoved, or exceptionCaught method to release them when the pipeline tears down. Because the leaked buffers are slices of PooledByteBufAllocator chunks, they prevent those chunks from being returned to the JVM-wide direct-memory pool. Repeated connection churn by any network peer monotonically drains this shared pool, eventually causing allocation failures on all Netty channels in the process.

Published by the source

11 Jun 2026, 13:26 UTC

Last modified by the source

18 Sep 2026, 15:32 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 16:55 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-6jv9-x5w9-2ccm

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-48006

Advisory: Netty's Lack of Lifecycle Cleanup Leads to Pooled ByteBuf Leak in RedisArrayAggregator
IDs: CVE-2026-48006, GHSA-6jv9-x5w9-2ccm
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-48006 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:55 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.7)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: io.netty:netty-codec-redis 4.2.15.Final, 4.1.135.Final. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven io.netty:netty-codec-redis: affected >= 4.2.0.Final, <= 4.2.14.Final; <= 4.1.134.Final; fixed in 4.2.15.Final, 4.1.135.Final

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven io.netty:netty-codec-redis: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on io.netty:netty-codec-redis.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-6jv9-x5w9-2ccm (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-6jv9-x5w9-2ccm lists affected ranges: Maven io.netty:netty-codec-redis >=4.2.0.Final =0 <=4.1.134.Final)

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