Request smuggling via permissive header terminator parsing
Published Jun 25, 2025 · Updated Jun 25, 2025
HTTP request smuggling in Ruby WEBrick 1.8.1 allows remote attackers to inject requests through a qualifying HTTP proxy. The read_header parser accepts bare LF header terminators and other malformed line endings instead of requiring CRLF, causing proxy and origin parsing to disagree. Exploitation requires a front-end proxy with different terminator handling and permits attacker-controlled requests to be processed as another request.
Summary
What happened
HTTP request smuggling in Ruby WEBrick 1.8.1 allows remote attackers to inject requests through a qualifying HTTP proxy. The read_header parser accepts bare LF header terminators and other malformed line endings instead of requiring CRLF, causing proxy and origin parsing to disagree. Exploitation requires a front-end proxy with different terminator handling and permits attacker-controlled requests to be processed as another request.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-6442
- Published
- Jun 25, 2025
- Updated
- Jun 25, 2025
- Vendor
- Ruby
- Product
- WEBrick
- Classifications
- CWE-444, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 25, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 25, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=1.8.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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