Every CVE Search/ Get API key

CVE-2023-38697

protocol-http1 HTTP Request/Response Smuggling vulnerability

5.8 MediumFix available

protocol-http1 provides a low-level implementation of the HTTP/1 protocol. RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension. The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits, the chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF, and the chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character. However, Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs: accepting Content-Length header values that have + prefix, accepting Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with 0x prefix, accepting 0x and + prefixed chunk size, and accepting LF in chunk extension. This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. This issue is fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1. There are no known workarounds.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

0.75%Up 0.7 points since Aug 5, 2023
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 5.8

protocol-http1 HTTP Request/Response Smuggling vulnerability

protocol-http1 provides a low-level implementation of the HTTP/1 protocol. RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension. The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits, the chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF, and the chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character. However, Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs: accepting Content-Length header values that have + prefix, accepting Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with 0x prefix, accepting 0x and + prefixed chunk size, and accepting LF in chunk extension. This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. This issue is fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1. There are no known workarounds.

Record
CVE-2023-38697
CVSS 3.1
5.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
Weakness
CWE-444
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-2225 5.8

protocol-http1 provides a low-level implementation of the HTTP/1 protocol. RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension. The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits, the chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF, and the chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character. However, Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs: accepting Content-Length header values that have + prefix, accepting Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with 0x prefix, accepting 0x and + prefixed chunk size, and accepting LF in chunk extension. This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. This issue is fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1. There are no known workarounds.

Record
EUVD-2023-2225
CVSS 3.1
5.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-6jwc-qr2q-7xwj 5.8

protocol-http1 HTTP Request/Response Smuggling vulnerability

Impact

RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension (detailed ABNF is in Appendix section).

In summary:

  • The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits.
  • The chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF.
  • The chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character.

However, we found that Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs.

  • Falcon accepts Content-Length header values that have "+" prefix.
  • Falcon accepts Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with "0x" prefix.
  • Falcon accepts "0x" and "+" prefixed chunk size.
  • Falcon accepts LF in chunk extension.

This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. Note that while these issues were reproduced in Falcon (the server), the issue is with protocol-http1 which implements the HTTP/1 protocol parser. We have not yet been advised of any real world exploit or practical attack.

Patches

Fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1+.

Workarounds

None.

References

https://github.com/socketry/protocol-http1/pull/20

Record
GHSA-6jwc-qr2q-7xwj
CVSS 3.1
5.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
Weakness
CWE-444
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 5.8

protocol-http1 provides a low-level implementation of the HTTP/1 protocol. RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension. The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits, the chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF, and the chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character. However, Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs: accepting Content-Length header values that have + prefix, accepting Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with 0x prefix, accepting 0x and + prefixed chunk size, and accepting LF in chunk extension. This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. This issue is fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1. There are no known workarounds.

Record
CVE-2023-38697
CVSS 3.1
5.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Weakness
CWE-444
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVAZL-27830 5.3

CVE-2023-38697 affecting package rubygem-protocol-http1 for versions less than 0.15.1-1

protocol-http1 provides a low-level implementation of the HTTP/1 protocol. RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension. The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits, the chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF, and the chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character. However, Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs: accepting Content-Length header values that have + prefix, accepting Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with 0x prefix, accepting 0x and + prefixed chunk size, and accepting LF in chunk extension. This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. This issue is fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1. There are no known workarounds.

Record
AZL-27830
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 5.8

protocol-http1 HTTP Request/Response Smuggling vulnerability

protocol-http1 provides a low-level implementation of the HTTP/1 protocol. RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension. The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits, the chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF, and the chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character. However, Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs: accepting Content-Length header values that have + prefix, accepting Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with 0x prefix, accepting 0x and + prefixed chunk size, and accepting LF in chunk extension. This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. This issue is fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1. There are no known workarounds.

Record
CVE-2023-38697
CVSS 3.1
5.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
Weakness
CWE-444
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2023-38697 5.3

protocol-http1 provides a low-level implementation of the HTTP/1 protocol. RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension. The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits, the chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF, and the chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character. However, Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs: accepting Content-Length header values that have + prefix, accepting Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with 0x prefix, accepting 0x and + prefixed chunk size, and accepting LF in chunk extension. This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. This issue is fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1. There are no known workarounds.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38697
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-6jwc-qr2q-7xwj 5.8

protocol-http1 HTTP Request/Response Smuggling vulnerability

Impact

RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension (detailed ABNF is in Appendix section).

In summary:

  • The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits.
  • The chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF.
  • The chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character.

However, we found that Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs.

  • Falcon accepts Content-Length header values that have "+" prefix.
  • Falcon accepts Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with "0x" prefix.
  • Falcon accepts "0x" and "+" prefixed chunk size.
  • Falcon accepts LF in chunk extension.

This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. Note that while these issues were reproduced in Falcon (the server), the issue is with protocol-http1 which implements the HTTP/1 protocol parser. We have not yet been advised of any real world exploit or practical attack.

Patches

Fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1+.

Workarounds

None.

References

https://github.com/socketry/protocol-http1/pull/20

Record
GHSA-6jwc-qr2q-7xwj
CVSS 3.1
5.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
Weakness
CWE-444
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-38697 5.8

protocol-http1 provides a low-level implementation of the HTTP/1 protocol. RFC 9112 Section 7.1 defined the format of chunk size, chunk data and chunk extension. The value of Content-Length header should be a string of 0-9 digits, the chunk size should be a string of hex digits and should split from chunk data using CRLF, and the chunk extension shouldn't contain any invisible character. However, Falcon has following behaviors while disobey the corresponding RFCs: accepting Content-Length header values that have + prefix, accepting Content-Length header values that written in hexadecimal with 0x prefix, accepting 0x and + prefixed chunk size, and accepting LF in chunk extension. This behavior can lead to desync when forwarding through multiple HTTP parsers, potentially results in HTTP request smuggling and firewall bypassing. This issue is fixed in protocol-http1 v0.15.1. There are no known workarounds.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-38697
CVSS 3.1
5.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
protocol-http1
RubyGems
before 0.15.1
0.15.1
rubygem-protocol-http1
Azure Linux:2
before 0.15.1-1
0.15.1-1
ruby-protocol-http1
Debian:12
All versions, plus listed versions
0.14.6-10.35.2-10.37.0-10.39.0-10.40.0-10.41.0-1
None known
ruby-protocol-http1
Debian:14
before 0.35.2-1, plus listed versions
0.12.0-10.13.0-10.13.0-20.13.0-30.13.1-1
Show 4 moreShow less
0.14.0-10.14.1-10.14.2-10.14.6-1
0.35.2-1
protocol-http1
RubyGems
before 0.15.1, plus listed versions
0.1.00.10.00.10.10.10.20.10.3
Show 25 moreShow less
0.11.00.11.10.12.00.13.00.13.10.13.20.14.00.14.10.14.20.14.30.14.40.14.60.15.00.2.00.3.00.4.00.4.10.5.00.6.00.7.00.8.00.8.10.8.20.8.30.9.0
0.15.1
ruby-protocol-http1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
0.13.1-10.14.2-1
None known
ruby-protocol-http1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
0.14.6-1
None known
ruby-protocol-http1
Ubuntu:25.10
All versions, plus listed versions
0.14.6-1
None known
ruby-protocol-http1
Ubuntu:26.10
All versions, plus listed versions
0.37.0-10.39.0-10.40.0-1
None known
ruby-protocol-http1
Ubuntu:26.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
0.14.6-10.35.2-10.37.0-1
None known

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2023-38697 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.8) in Socketry Protocol-http1, published August 3, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.75%, the 55th percentile. Fixed in protocol-http1 0.15.1.

References

Show 6 moreShow less
MoveEnter Open