CVE-2026-48043: netty-codec-http2: ByteBuf Reference-Count Leak in DelegatingDecompressorFrameListener Leads to Memory Exhaustion
(updated )
The DelegatingDecompressorFrameListener class orchestrates HTTP/2 decompression by embedding a per-stream EmbeddedChannel that runs the appropriate decompression codec (gzip, deflate, zstd) and forwards decompressed chunks to a wrapped listener. Each decompressed chunk is a pooled ByteBuf handed to an anonymous ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter tail handler, which becomes the sole owner responsible for releasing it.
A remote peer could send frames that would result in the flow-controller throwing and so trigger a resource leak which at the end might take down the whole JVM due OOME.
References
Code Behaviors & Features
Detect and mitigate CVE-2026-48043 with GitLab Dependency Scanning
Secure your software supply chain by verifying that all open source dependencies used in your projects contain no disclosed vulnerabilities. Learn more about Dependency Scanning →