netty-incubator-codec-ohttp's Incorrect Native Pointer Derivation in Pooled Direct ByteBuf Fallback Leads to Out-of-Bounds Native Memory Access

Exploitation

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

CVSS 4.0

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

EPSS

• CVE-2026-48040: 0.17% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 6.92 (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.

The netty-incubator-codec-ohttp library implements Oblivious HTTP (RFC 9458) using BoringSSL's HPKE C library via JNI. When deriving native memory addresses for cryptographic operations, provides a fallback path for direct ByteBufs that do not expose their memory address through hasMemoryAddress(). This fallback occurs when sun.misc.Unsafe is unavailable to Netty — for example, when the JVM is started with -Dio.netty.noUnsafe=true, when a SecurityManager restricts Unsafe access, or when running on non-HotSpot JVMs. In these configurations, Netty's default PooledByteBufAllocator returns PooledDirectByteBuf instances for which hasMemoryAddress() returns false. Why this matters: Under the enabling JVM configuration, an unauthenticated network attacker can cause the OHTTP gateway to corrupt memory belonging to other concurrent connections and disclose the contents of adjacent pooled direct buffers by triggering cryptographic operations with crafted OHTTP requests. The corruption occurs…

Published by the source

11 Jun 2026, 13:28 UTC

Last modified by the source

11 Jun 2026, 13:28 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 16:46 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-32hf-8jw3-v4qq

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-48040

Advisory: netty-incubator-codec-ohttp's Incorrect Native Pointer Derivation in Pooled Direct ByteBuf Fallback Leads to Out-of-Bounds Native Memory Access
IDs: CVE-2026-48040, GHSA-32hf-8jw3-v4qq
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-48040 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:46 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.8)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: io.netty.incubator:netty-incubator-codec-ohttp-hpke-native-boringssl 0.0.22.Final. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven io.netty.incubator:netty-incubator-codec-ohttp-hpke-native-boringssl: affected < 0.0.22.Final; fixed in 0.0.22.Final

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven io.netty.incubator:netty-incubator-codec-ohttp-hpke-native-boringssl: 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.incubator:netty-incubator-codec-ohttp-hpke-native-boringssl.
- 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-32hf-8jw3-v4qq (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-32hf-8jw3-v4qq lists affected ranges: Maven io.netty.incubator:netty-incubator-codec-ohttp-hpke-native-boringssl >=0 <0.0.22.Final)

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