CVE-2026-59902
Received Received - Intake

Netty Memory Exhaustion via SCTP Fragments

Publication date: 2026-08-17

Last updated on: 2026-08-17

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description
Netty is an asynchronous, event-driven network application framework. Prior to 4.1.137.Final and 4.2.17.Final, io.netty.handler.codec.sctp.SctpMessageCompletionHandler limits incomplete messages and fragment counts but not maxBufferedBytes, allowing unauthenticated peers to exhaust memory with large SCTP fragments. This issue is fixed in versions 4.1.137.Final and 4.2.17.Final.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-17
Last Modified
2026-08-17
Generated
2026-08-17
AI Q&A
2026-08-17
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-59902
EUVD
EUVD-2026-60314

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 4 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
netty netty to 4.1.137_final (exc)
netty netty to 4.2.17_final (exc)
netty netty to 4.1.137.final (exc)
netty netty to 4.2.17.final (exc)

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Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-400 The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.

Attack-Flow Graph

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Executive Summary

CVE-2026-59902 is a memory exhaustion vulnerability in Netty's SCTP transport component. The SctpMessageCompletionHandler class does not limit the total size of buffered SCTP fragments, allowing unauthenticated attackers to send large fragments and cause an OutOfMemoryError on the server.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by monitoring for memory exhaustion or OutOfMemoryError events in applications using Netty's SCTP transport with SctpMessageCompletionHandler. Check Netty logs for high memory usage or crashes. No specific commands are provided in the context, but monitoring tools like top, htop, or JVM profilers can help identify abnormal memory consumption.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause denial-of-service by exhausting server memory, leading to crashes or degraded performance. Attackers can exploit it remotely without authentication or user interaction, making it highly impactful for any application using Netty's SCTP transport.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability primarily impacts system availability by enabling memory exhaustion attacks, which could lead to service disruptions. While not directly violating GDPR or HIPAA, such disruptions may compromise data processing integrity or availability, potentially violating GDPR's Article 32 (security of processing) or HIPAA's Security Rule (availability requirements).

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade Netty to version 4.1.137.Final or 4.2.17.Final or later to address the vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately possible, disable SCTP transport or restrict network access to trusted peers to limit exposure. Monitor memory usage closely for signs of exploitation.

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