HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2019-17638
CRITICAL

CVE-2019-17638

CWE-672Published: July 9, 2020· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

9.4
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

In Eclipse Jetty, versions 9.4.27.v20200227 to 9.4.29.v20200521, in case of too large response headers, Jetty throws an exception to produce an HTTP 431 error. When this happens, the ByteBuffer containing the HTTP response headers is released back to the ByteBufferPool twice. Because of this double release, two threads can acquire the same ByteBuffer from the pool and while thread1 is about to use the ByteBuffer to write response1 data, thread2 fills the ByteBuffer with other data. Thread1 then proceeds to write the buffer that now contains different data. This results in client1, which issued request1 seeing data from another request or response which could contain sensitive data belonging to client2 (HTTP session ids, authentication credentials, etc.). If the Jetty version cannot be upgraded, the vulnerability can be significantly reduced by configuring a responseHeaderSize significantly larger than the requestHeaderSize (12KB responseHeaderSize and 8KB requestHeaderSize).

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2019-17638 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), with a CVSS base score of 9.4.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges Req.None
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityLow
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

Affected Vendors & Products

eclipse1 product(s)
jetty
Source: NVD CPE · 3 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
External links open in a new tab. Always verify in a controlled environment before use.

Official Patches & Advisories

All References (34)

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2019-17638
CVSS Score9.4 / 10
SeverityCRITICAL
WeaknessCWE-672
CISA KEVNo
Affected1 vendor(s)
PublishedJul 9, 2020

Related CVEs (CWE-672)

Recommended Actions

  • Apply vendor patches immediately
  • Monitor CVE-2019-17638 in threat intel feeds
  • Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWATCH.COM. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.