Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Remotely triggered via a single malformed response header (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N); impact is a bounded connection-pool leak affecting only availability, so C:N/I:N and A:L rather than A:H.
Primary rating from Vendor (apache).
CVSS VectorVendor: apache
Lifecycle Timeline
3Blast Radius
ecosystem impact- 6 maven packages depend on org.apache.httpcomponents.client5:httpclient5 (6 direct, 0 indirect)
Ecosystem-wide dependent count for version 5.0-alpha1.
DescriptionCVE.org
HttpClient based on the classic i/o model fails to correctly release the underlying connection back to the connection manager if it encounters an invalid or unsupported Content-Encoding header value in the response message. Please note this defect does not affect HttpClient based on the async i/o model.
This issue affects Apache HttpComponents Client: from 5.0-alpha1 through 5.6.2.
AnalysisAI
Denial of service in Apache HttpComponents Client (versions 5.0-alpha1 through 5.6.2) arises when the classic/blocking I/O HttpClient fails to release the underlying connection back to the pool after receiving a response carrying an invalid or unsupported Content-Encoding header. An attacker who controls or can influence the server a client talks to can repeatedly return such headers to leak connections until the pool is exhausted, halting further outbound HTTP requests from the affected Java application. The async I/O HttpClient is explicitly unaffected; there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no CVSS or EPSS data was supplied.
Technical ContextAI
Apache HttpComponents Client is one of the most widely embedded HTTP client libraries in the Java ecosystem, used directly and transitively by countless frameworks, SDKs, and enterprise services. The library exposes two execution models: a classic (synchronous, blocking I/O) client and an async (non-blocking, reactor-based) client - only the classic model is affected. Connections are borrowed from and returned to a PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager. The defect is a CWE-772 (Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime) condition: when response content decoding encounters an unrecognized Content-Encoding value, the error path exits without returning the leased connection to the manager, so each such response permanently consumes a slot from the bounded connection pool.
RemediationAI
Upgrade Apache HttpComponents Client to the fixed release above 5.6.2 as directed by the Apache advisory at https://lists.apache.org/thread/qqfzo3fqcdk4l5496vz95ppvl4ty511q; a released patched version could not be independently confirmed from the provided data, so consult that advisory for the exact fix version rather than relying on an assumed number. As interim compensating controls: migrate affected code paths to the async I/O HttpClient, which is not vulnerable (trade-off: non-trivial API/refactoring effort); restrict outbound HTTP calls to trusted, known-good endpoints and apply strict egress/allowlist controls so an attacker cannot supply malicious responses (trade-off: breaks integrations with dynamic third parties); and add pool-health monitoring plus aggressive connection eviction/timeouts and pool-exhaustion alerting so a leak degrades gracefully instead of silently hanging the application (trade-off: mitigates symptoms, does not remove the leak).
More in Apache Httpcomponents Client
View allSame technique Information Disclosure
View allVendor StatusVendor
SUSE
Severity: Moderate| Product | Status |
|---|---|
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server LTS 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server Module 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 7 | Affected |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP2 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP3 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-ESPOS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-ESPOS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP2 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP3 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP2 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-BCL | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-BCL | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.2 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.2 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.2 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server Module 4.2 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.3 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.4 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | Affected |
| bci/openjdk-devel bci/openjdk-devel:11 bci/openjdk-devel:17 bci/openjdk-devel:21 containers/apache-pulsar:3.3 suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server suse/multi-linux-manager/5.2/x86_64/server | Affected |
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-51519
GHSA-hjcp-jmpx-g3qm