What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-16869?

CVE-2019-16869 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N. EPSS exploitation probability: 8.4%.

Is there a public PoC exploit available for CVE-2019-16869?

Yes, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2019-16869. Prioritise patching immediately. EPSS: 8.4%.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2019-16869?

Yes, a patch is available for CVE-2019-16869. Update the affected software to the latest version immediately.

Netty CVE-2019-16869

HIGH

HTTP Request/Response Smuggling (CWE-444)

2019-09-26 cve@mitre.org

Information Disclosure Debian Red Hat Canonical Request Smuggling Debian Linux Jboss Enterprise Application Platform Ubuntu Linux Netty

7.5

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-444 OWASP Top 10:2025 A06:2025 - Insecure Design ASVS 5.0 V4 - API and Web Service HTTP request consistency
Impact	CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	A remote attacker could manipulate HTTP request interpretation between frontend and backend servers by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).

Patch available 8.4% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

Netty before 4.1.42.Final mishandles whitespace before the colon in HTTP headers (such as a "Transfer-Encoding : chunked" line), which leads to HTTP request smuggling. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Enforce strict HTTP parsing, normalize requests at proxy layer, use HTTP/2 end-to-end, reject ambiguous headers.

Affected Packages

maven io.netty:netty no fix

maven io.netty:netty-all fix: 4.1.42.Final

maven org.jboss.netty:netty no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 3 packages in maven

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as HTTP Request/Response Smuggling (CWE-444), which allows attackers to manipulate HTTP request interpretation between frontend and backend servers. Netty before 4.1.42.Final mishandles whitespace before the colon in HTTP headers (such as a "Transfer-Encoding : chunked" line), which leads to HTTP request smuggling. Affected products include: Netty, Debian Debian Linux, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Redhat Jboss Enterprise Application Platform. Version information: before 4.1.42..

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Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.5 HIGH

AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

High

Availability

None

DescriptionNVD

Netty before 4.1.42.Final mishandles whitespace before the colon in HTTP headers (such as a "Transfer-Encoding : chunked" line), which leads to HTTP request smuggling.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

8.4%

Top 6% exploitable

Exploit

POC

Public exploit code exists

Data Quality

4 sources

Confidence: Medium

NVD

CVE.org

EPSS

GitHub

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity HIGH

CISA KEV No

Public POC Yes

EPSS 8.4%

Patch available Yes

Active threat No

Deciding rule

HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Scheduled

Exploitation· derived

Poc

System Exposure· derived

Open

Automatable· derived

Yes

Human Impact· derived

Medium

Priority Score

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: +8

CVSS: +38

PoC: +20

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

HTTP Request Smuggling HIGH

HTTP request smuggling exploits inconsistencies in how front-end and back-end servers parse HTTP message boundaries.

Information Disclosure MEDIUM

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.