Denial of service via unchecked streaming decompression
Published Mar 4, 2026 · Updated Mar 4, 2026
Denial of service in Yuji Hirose cpp-httplib before 0.35.0 allows remote attackers to exhaust CPU or memory via compressed requests. In httplib.h, prepare_content_receiver counts compressed socket bytes against payload_max_length_ but forwards unbounded decompressed chunks to HandlerWithContentReader. Exposure requires server-side streaming handlers, decompression support, and reliance on set_payload_max_length_; oversized expansion exhausts resources and interrupts service under load.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in Yuji Hirose cpp-httplib before 0.35.0 allows remote attackers to exhaust CPU or memory via compressed requests. In httplib.h, prepare_content_receiver counts compressed socket bytes against payload_max_length_ but forwards unbounded decompressed chunks to HandlerWithContentReader. Exposure requires server-side streaming handlers, decompression support, and reliance on set_payload_max_length_; oversized expansion exhausts resources and interrupts service under load.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-28435
- Published
- Mar 4, 2026
- Updated
- Mar 4, 2026
- Vendor
- Yuji Hirose
- Product
- cpp-httplib
- Classifications
- CWE-409, CWE-400, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 4, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 4, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 0.35.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Upstream compressed-body limit-bypass proof of conceptfunctional · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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