{"id":"CVE-2026-78048","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"Apache bRPC: Remote Denial of Service via Out-of-Bounds Dynamic Table Sizing in HPACK Decoder","description":"A reachable-assertion flaw in the HPACK header-compression decoder of the HTTP/2 (h2/gRPC) stack in Apache bRPC (version < 1.18.0) on all platforms allows a remote attacker to crash the server process by sending a crafted sequence of HPACK headers, resulting in a denial of service.\n\nRoot Cause:\nIn src/brpc/details/hpack.cpp, IndexTable::Init sizes the dynamic-table ring buffer as num_headers = max_size / (32 + 2), i.e. it assumes a minimum table entry of 34 bytes (name >= 1 byte + value >= 1 byte + 32 bytes of overhead). However, RFC 7541 section 4.1 specifies that the minimum entry size is 33 bytes, because the value may be empty (name >= 1 byte + value == 0 + 32 bytes). For the default 4096-byte table this allocates only 120 slots (4096/34). Eviction in AddHeader is driven by byte usage (_max_size), not by slot count, so a peer can add 121 minimal 33-byte entries (121*33 = 3993 <= 4096) without triggering eviction. The 121st AddHeader then hits CHECK(!_header_queue.full()), which aborts the process.\n\nAffected Scenarios:\nUse a bRPC server that serves HTTP/2 or gRPC requests (e.g. via the h2 protocol) from an untrusted network. The malicious header block is processed during HPACK decoding of incoming requests without authentication.\n\nHow to Fix: \n(Choose one of the following options) \n1. Upgrade bRPC to version 1.18.0, which fixes this issue.\n2. Apply this patch: https://github.com/apache/brpc/pull/3462\n\nNote:\nThe fix sizes the dynamic table for the 33-byte minimum entry (max_size / (32 + 1)) and ensures at least one ring-buffer slot is kept when max_size is smaller than the minimum entry, so that initialization cannot fail on malloc(0).","publishedAt":"2026-10-21T11:51:58.752Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-30T16:49:25.386Z","severity":{"score":7.5,"label":"High","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","source":"CISA-ADP"},"assigner":"apache","products":["Apache Software Foundation Apache bRPC"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Apache Software Foundation","product":"Apache bRPC","packageName":"apache/brpc","packageURL":"pkg:github/apache/brpc","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThan":"1.18.0","versionType":"semver"}],"collectionURL":"https://github.com"}],"references":["https://lists.apache.org/thread/2pf15ojj0vr7rtx95677kgtl1mx3gdgb"],"weaknesses":["CWE-617"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-30T16:54:06.455Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/78xxx/CVE-2026-78048.json","commit":"48122c4b3bcd05d954afe8acd0951f0fe166e5af","baselineCommit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-78048","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-10-21T11:51:58.752Z","dateUpdated":"2026-10-30T16:49:25.386Z","assignerShortName":"apache","assignerOrgId":"f0158376-9dc2-43b6-827c-5f631a4d8d09","dateReserved":"2026-08-22T04:09:09.653Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"Apache bRPC: Remote Denial of Service via Out-of-Bounds Dynamic Table Sizing in HPACK Decoder","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"A reachable-assertion flaw in the HPACK header-compression decoder of the HTTP/2 (h2/gRPC) stack in Apache bRPC (version < 1.18.0) on all platforms allows a remote attacker to crash the server process by sending a crafted sequence of HPACK headers, resulting in a denial of service.\n\nRoot Cause:\nIn src/brpc/details/hpack.cpp, IndexTable::Init sizes the dynamic-table ring buffer as num_headers = max_size / (32 + 2), i.e. it assumes a minimum table entry of 34 bytes (name >= 1 byte + value >= 1 byte + 32 bytes of overhead). However, RFC 7541 section 4.1 specifies that the minimum entry size is 33 bytes, because the value may be empty (name >= 1 byte + value == 0 + 32 bytes). For the default 4096-byte table this allocates only 120 slots (4096/34). Eviction in AddHeader is driven by byte usage (_max_size), not by slot count, so a peer can add 121 minimal 33-byte entries (121*33 = 3993 <= 4096) without triggering eviction. The 121st AddHeader then hits CHECK(!_header_queue.full()), which aborts the process.\n\nAffected Scenarios:\nUse a bRPC server that serves HTTP/2 or gRPC requests (e.g. via the h2 protocol) from an untrusted network. The malicious header block is processed during HPACK decoding of incoming requests without authentication.\n\nHow to Fix: \n(Choose one of the following options) \n1. Upgrade bRPC to version 1.18.0, which fixes this issue.\n2. Apply this patch: https://github.com/apache/brpc/pull/3462\n\nNote:\nThe fix sizes the dynamic table for the 33-byte minimum entry (max_size / (32 + 1)) and ensures at least one ring-buffer slot is kept when max_size is smaller than the minimum entry, so that initialization cannot fail on malloc(0)."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Apache Software Foundation","product":"Apache bRPC","packageName":"apache/brpc","packageURL":"pkg:github/apache/brpc","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThan":"1.18.0","versionType":"semver"}],"collectionURL":"https://github.com"}],"references":[{"url":"https://lists.apache.org/thread/2pf15ojj0vr7rtx95677kgtl1mx3gdgb","tags":["vendor-advisory"]}],"metrics":[{"other":{"type":"Textual description of severity","content":{"text":"high"}},"scenarios":[{"lang":"en","value":"GENERAL"}]}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"cweId":"CWE-617","description":"CWE-617 Reachable Assertion","lang":"en","type":"CWE"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"apache","orgId":"f0158376-9dc2-43b6-827c-5f631a4d8d09","dateUpdated":"2026-10-21T11:51:58.752Z"},"source":{"discovery":"EXTERNAL"},"credits":[{"lang":"en","value":"ubeddulla khan","type":"finder"}],"x_generator":{"engine":"Vulnogram 0.2.0"}},"adp":[{"title":"CISA ADP Vulnrichment","metrics":[{"cvssV3_1":{"scope":"UNCHANGED","version":"3.1","baseScore":7.5,"attackVector":"NETWORK","baseSeverity":"HIGH","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","integrityImpact":"NONE","userInteraction":"NONE","attackComplexity":"LOW","availabilityImpact":"HIGH","privilegesRequired":"NONE","confidentialityImpact":"NONE"}},{"other":{"type":"ssvc","content":{"timestamp":"2026-10-30T16:48:59.723519Z","id":"CVE-2026-78048","options":[{"Exploitation":"none"},{"Automatable":"yes"},{"Technical Impact":"partial"}],"role":"CISA Coordinator","version":"2.0.3"}}}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"CISA-ADP","orgId":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","dateUpdated":"2026-10-30T16:49:25.386Z"}}]}}}