Description
Netty is an asynchronous, event-driven network application framework. Prior to 4.1.136.Final and 4.2.16.Final, io.netty.handler.codec.dns.AbstractDnsRecord, io.netty.handler.codec.dns.DefaultDnsRecordDecoder.decodeRecord(), and io.netty.handler.codec.dns.DnsCodecUtil.decompressDomainName() failed to release retained or newly allocated ByteBuf objects when IDN.toASCII() or encodeDomainName() rejected a malformed domain name, allowing unauthenticated remote DNS packets to leak direct memory incrementally until denial of service. This issue is fixed in versions 4.1.136.Final and 4.2.16.Final.
Affected products
netty: netty
References5
- github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-mfg7-5gfp-c4w3 Vendor Advisory
- github.com/netty/netty/commit/5b68c61f37aa4a3045cba624cbea23965… Patch
- github.com/netty/netty/commit/bb2ff68a1fb71cb4b0eb9a9e17b66c52a… Patch
- github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.136.Final Release Notes
- github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.16.Final Release Notes
Metrics
- CVSS 3.1
-
7.5
HIGH
Score source: NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - EPSS — exploit probability
- 1% percentile: 51 · as of 12 November 2026
- CWE
- CWE-772
Could this be exploited in your environment?
A patch closes the known hole. A penetration test shows what an attacker can still reach — with proof.