Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
-
AccessPosition controllable/malformed upstream 302 response
-
DeliverySet Transfer-Encoding: chunked to hit carve-out
-
ExploitBypass parse-error rejection in Traffic Server
-
ExecutionDesync response framing between proxy and client
-
ImpactPoison shared cache and serve to other users
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V4 - API and Web Service HTTP request consistency
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Traffic Server must be deployed as a caching/forwarding proxy and must handle a malformed 302 response whose Transfer-Encoding: chunked header triggers the rejection-bypass carve-out; the attacker needs the ability to elicit or inject such an upstream response (e.g., control of or influence over an origin/backend, or a shared cache serving multiple tenants) so that two peers parse the framing differently. Per the CVSS vector exploitation is remote and unauthenticated (AV:N/PR:N/UI:N) against affected versions; the practical limiting factor is that a desynchronizing malformed response must actually traverse the proxy, and non-caching or non-proxying deployments reduce the blast radius since the primary impact is poisoning a shared cache. |
| Impact | This is a genuine high-priority issue, not an inflated-CVSS artifact. The provided CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:N, 9.3) is internally consistent with the description: a remote, unauthenticated, low-complexity flaw whose scope change (S:C) reflects that cache poisoning and response-framing desync affect downstream clients beyond Traffic Server itself, with high integrity impact (I:H) and only limited confidentiality (C:L) and no availability impact. CWE-444 (HTTP request/response smuggling/desync) matches the described chunked-encoding parsing discrepancy. Signals are partly incomplete: there is no EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no indication of public POC in the input, so exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' The absence of KEV/EPSS does not lower the inherent severity - smuggling/cache-poisoning flaws in a caching proxy are reliably weaponizable against shared infrastructure once techniques are public. The 'Authentication Bypass' tag is loosely applicable (smuggling can enable request routing/auth-boundary bypass downstream) but the core impact described is cache poisoning and response desync, so treat auth-bypass as a secondary consequence rather than a confirmed primary effect. Overall: patch promptly on any ATS deployment acting as a shared cache/proxy. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker induces or controls an upstream response - a malformed 302 carrying Transfer-Encoding: chunked - that Traffic Server forwards instead of rejecting as a parse error. Because the proxy and a downstream client/cache parse the response boundaries differently, the attacker splices a poisoned entry into the shared cache that is then served to other users, or desynchronizes the response stream to smuggle an attacker-chosen response. No authentication is required (PR:N) and complexity is low (AC:L); no public exploit code is identified at time of analysis. |
Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.
Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 21, 2026
Response-framing desync in Apache Traffic Server (8.0.0 through 8.1.11, 9.0.0 through 9.2.15, 10.0.0 through 10.1.4, and 10.2.0) allows a malformed 302 response that should have been rejected as a parse error to pass the rejection path through the Transfer-Encoding: chunked carve-out, so the proxy stores and serves a response that different peers interpret differently. Per the CVSS vector the issue is remote and unauthenticated (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N, scope changed, I:H/C:L), enabling cache poisoning and response-framing desync against deployments acting as caching or forwarding proxies. No public exploit code or CISA KEV entry is associated at time of analysis; the practical precondition is that a suitable malformed upstream response actually traverses the proxy. Fixed versions 9.2.16, 10.1.5, and 10.2.1 are published by the vendor.
RemediationAI
Upgrade to Apache Traffic Server 9.2.16, 10.1.5, or 10.2.1, which fix the issue; see the vendor advisory at https://lists.apache.org/thread/r95dq29ywcd1f4x30snxlqmb12z4s4kc for the authoritative release guidance, and note that 8.x has no listed fixed release, so 8.x users should plan a move onto the 9.x or 10.x fixed branch. Where an immediate upgrade is not possible, reduce exposure by taking the affected node out of the caching path (serving as a pure forward proxy without shared cache) - this removes the cache-poisoning impact but increases origin load and latency and leaves the response-desync parsing path reachable - or by restricting which upstream origins and tenants can influence responses through the proxy, since exploitation requires a malformed upstream 302 to actually traverse it; tightening that trust boundary limits who can trigger the desync but does not fix the parser. Adding an upstream normalization layer that rejects responses carrying ambiguous or conflicting framing headers before they reach Traffic Server is a further compensating control, at the cost of an extra hop and possible breakage of legitimate chunked responses.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The root cause is CWE-444, inconsistent interpretation of HTTP requests/responses ('HTTP smuggling'), which arises here in the response direction. HTTP/1.1 message framing can be expressed by Content-Length, by Transfer-Encoding: chunked, or ambiguously by both; when two parties in the chain resolve that ambiguity differently, the message boundary shifts and bytes intended as one response body are re-read as the start of the next response. Apache Traffic Server's parser is supposed to reject malformed 302 responses, but a carve-out for Transfer-Encoding: chunked bypassed that rejection path, so a response the proxy should have discarded was accepted, cached, and re-served to other clients. Because the proxy sits between origins and many downstream clients and reuses cache entries across them, the divergent framing becomes a shared-state attack: poisoned cache entries and desynchronized response streams. The CVSS scope-changed rating (S:C, I:H with C:L) reflects that impact crossing from the attacker-controlled upstream response into the integrity of content served to unrelated clients, while no direct confidentiality or availability loss is assessed.
Know when Apache Traffic Server gets its next vulnerability
- Watch products and get an email when something new is published
- Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
No credit card · 7-day full trial
Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:L/SI:H/SA:N
Remote unauthenticated low-complexity response-desync; scope changes to affect downstream clients/cache (S:C), high integrity via cache poisoning (I:H), limited confidentiality, no availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (apache).
CVSS VectorVendor: apache
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionCVE.org
Apache Traffic Server forwarded a malformed 302 response that should have been rejected as a parse error, because the Transfer-Encoding: chunked carve-out bypassed the rejection path. A response that two peers can read differently is then stored and served, allowing cache poisoning and response-framing desync.
This issue affects Apache Traffic Server: from 8.0.0 through 8.1.11, from 9.0.0 through 9.2.15, from 10.0.0 through 10.1.4, 10.2.0.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 9.2.16, 10.1.5, or 10.2.1, which fix the issue.
Executive ViewAI
Apache Traffic Server caching and forwarding proxies can store and serve a malformed 302 response that different peers interpret inconsistently, creating cache-poisoning and response-framing desync risk for organizations that rely on the proxy as a traffic choke point. The issue is remotely reachable without authentication, but no public exploit was identified at time of analysis and exploitation requires a suitable malformed upstream response to traverse the proxy. Leadership should care because a single affected proxy can expose many downstream users and applications to poisoned or inconsistently framed content.
Apply vendor patch: 9.2.16, 10.1.5, 10.2.1. If upgrade is not immediately possible, limit proxy caching of untrusted upstream responses and enforce strict response-framing validation at the edge.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
HTTP request smuggling exploits inconsistencies in how front-end and back-end servers parse HTTP message boundaries.
More in Apache Traffic Server
View allApache Traffic Server versions 8.0.1 through 8.1.11, 9.0.0 through 9.2.15, 10.0.0 through 10.1.4, and 10.2.0 ship an exp
Remote denial of service in Apache Traffic Server (8.0.0-8.1.9, 9.0.0-9.2.14, 10.0.0-10.1.3) allows unauthenticated atta
Out-of-bounds write and integer overflow in Apache Traffic Server's MIME and HTTP header parsing lets remote attackers c
Request smuggling and policy bypass in Apache Traffic Server (branches 8.0.0-8.1.9, 9.0.0-9.2.14, and 10.0.0-10.1.3) ari
Request smuggling in Apache Traffic Server 8.0.0 through 8.1.11, 9.0.0 through 9.2.15, 10.0.0 through 10.1.4, and 10.2.0
Unauthenticated remote attackers can drive HTTP transactions to completion against Apache Traffic Server instances that
Denial of service in Apache Traffic Server 8.0.0-8.1.9, 9.0.0-9.2.14, and 10.0.0-10.1.3 lets remote unauthenticated atta
Apache Traffic Server 9.2.15, 10.1.4, and 10.2.0 can be driven into a denial-of-service condition through log amplificat
Out-of-bounds write and limit-bypass flaws in several experimental plugins shipped with Apache Traffic Server (8.0.0-8.1
Improper certificate generation in the Apache Traffic Server certifier plugin lets remote attackers dictate the contents
Memory corruption in Apache Traffic Server's remap configuration handling lets remote attackers trigger a use-after-free
Denial-of-service and cache-integrity corruption in Apache Traffic Server (8.0.0-8.1.9, 9.0.0-9.2.14, 10.0.0-10.1.3) all
EUVD-2026-107493
GHSA-2g9h-67x8-9xr9
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
VulDB
Exploit-DB