Vulnerability Database

363,159

Total vulnerabilities in the database

blaze: Unbounded WebSocket message aggregation in http4s-blaze-server — org.http4s / http4s-blaze-server_2.13

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

Summary

http4s-blaze-server aggregates the fragments of an incoming WebSocket message with no limit on total size or fragment count. A client that completes a WebSocket handshake can send an unterminated fragmented message and drive unbounded heap growth in the server JVM, resulting in denial of service via OutOfMemoryError.

Impact

Any http4s application serving WebSocket routes over BlazeServerBuilder is affected; no non-default configuration is required, and maxWebSocketBufferSize does not bound the aggregate (it bounds only individual frames). A single connection sending continuation frames that never set FIN forces the server to buffer every fragment until the heap is exhausted, terminating the JVM with OutOfMemoryError on the blaze selector thread. Small fragments amplify the cost through per-frame object overhead, so a modest volume of wire bytes is sufficient. Where the WebSocket endpoint is reachable without authentication the attacker is unauthenticated and remote; where the handshake requires a principal, any authenticated client can still trigger it.

Workarounds

  • No blaze-server configuration bounds the aggregate; maxWebSocketBufferSize is not a mitigation.
  • Terminate/limit WebSocket traffic at a fronting layer that enforces message-size and fragment limits, or disable WebSocket routes.
  • Longer term: blaze is EOL upstream; plan migration to a maintained backend (e.g. ember).
  • Published: Jul 24, 2026
  • Updated: Jul 25, 2026
  • GHSA: GHSA-7ppr-r889-mcf2
  • Severity: High
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: High
  • Score: 7.5
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWEs:

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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