cpp-httplib DoS: Negative chunk-size in chunked Transfer-Encoding
Published May 29, 2026
7.5
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.49%
Description
cpp-httplib is a C++11 single-file header-only cross platform HTTP/HTTPS library. Prior to 0.43.4, negative chunk-size in chunked Transfer-Encoding causes unbounded memory allocation and process crash. The ChunkedDecoder::read_payload function in cpp-httplib (httplib.h) parses the chunk-size field of HTTP chunked transfer encoding using std::strtoul(). Per the C standard (§7.22.1.4), strtoul silently accepts a leading minus sign, performing unsigned wrap-around: strtoul("-2", …, 16) returns ULONG_MAX − 1 (0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFE). The library's only guard (line 12833) rejects ULONG_MAX (the result of "-1"), but any other negative value such as "-2" passes validation. The resulting near-maximum value is stored in chunk_remaining and controls how many bytes the server's read loop consumes from the network. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.43.4.
Affected products
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- Version < 0.43.4StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yhirose | Cpp-Httplib | n/a |
|
- < 0.43.4
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
References (2)
- https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2026-33425 Advisory
- https://github.com/yhirose/cpp-httplib/security/advisories/GHSA-h6wq-j5mv-f3q8 exploitx_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2026-33425 | Advisory | |
| https://github.com/yhirose/cpp-httplib/security/advisories/GHSA-h6wq-j5mv-f3q8 | exploitx_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.