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HIGH

cpp-httplib has Unbounded Memory Allocation in Chunked/No-Length Requests

Published May 6, 2025

Description

cpp-httplib is a C++ header-only HTTP/HTTPS server and client library. Prior to version 0.20.1, the library fails to enforce configured size limits on incoming request bodies when `Transfer-Encoding: chunked` is used or when no `Content-Length` header is provided. A remote attacker can send a chunked request without the terminating zero-length chunk, causing uncontrolled memory allocation on the server. This leads to potential exhaustion of system memory and results in a server crash or unresponsiveness. Version 0.20.1 fixes the issue by enforcing limits during parsing. If the limit is exceeded at any point during reading, the connection is terminated immediately. A short-term workaround through a Reverse Proxy is available. If updating the library immediately is not feasible, deploy a reverse proxy (e.g., Nginx, HAProxy) in front of the `cpp-httplib` application. Configure the proxy to enforce maximum request body size limits, thereby stopping excessively large requests before they reach the vulnerable library code.

Affected products

Remediation

No remediation recorded yet.

Metrics

References (2)

Change history (0)

No recorded changes yet.

Sources
CVE.org / MITRE
Status PUBLISHED
Assigner GitHub_M
Published May 6, 2025
Updated May 6, 2025
Reserved Apr 28, 2025
CISA Vulnrichment
Updated May 6, 2025
NVD
Status Analyzed
Modified Jun 17, 2026
Red Hat
Severity n/a
Public date n/a