CVE-2026-23941

Request smuggling via first-wins Content-Length parsing in inets httpd

Published Mar 13, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 7 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request Smuggling') vulnerability in Erlang OTP (inets httpd module) allows HTTP Request Smuggling.

This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/inets/src/http_server/httpd_request.erl and program routines httpd_request:parse_headers/7.

The server does not reject or normalize duplicate Content-Length headers. The earliest Content-Length in the request is used for body parsing while common reverse proxies (nginx, Apache httpd, Envoy) honor the last Content-Length value. This violates RFC 9112 Section 6.3 and allows front-end/back-end desynchronization, leaving attacker-controlled bytes queued as the start of the next request.

This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 26.2.5.18, OTP 27.3.4.9, and OTP 28.4.1, corresponding to inets from 5.10 before 9.1.0.5, 9.3.2.3, and 9.6.1. Whether OTP before OTP 17.0, corresponding to inets before 5.10, is affected is unknown.

Remediation

Vendor Workaround

* Configure frontend proxy to reject requests with duplicate Content-Length headers. * Disable HTTP keep-alive on httpd by adding {keep_alive, false} to httpd configuration. Note: This impacts performance for clients making multiple requests. * Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) configured to reject requests with multiple Content-Length headers.

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4590-1 erlang security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8827-1 Erlang vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request Smuggling') vulnerability in Erlang OTP (inets httpd module) allows HTTP Request Smuggling. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/inets/src/http_server/httpd_request.erl and program routines httpd_request:parse_headers/7. The server does not reject or normalize duplicate Content-Length headers. The earliest Content-Length in the request is used for body parsing while common reverse proxies (nginx, Apache httpd, Envoy) honor the last Content-Length value. This violates RFC 9112 Section 6.3 and allows front-end/back-end desynchronization, leaving attacker-controlled bytes queued as the start of the next request. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 28.4.1, OTP 27.3.4.9 and OTP 26.2.5.18, corresponding to inets from 5.10 before 9.6.1, 9.3.2.3 and 9.1.0.5. Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request Smuggling') vulnerability in Erlang OTP (inets httpd module) allows HTTP Request Smuggling. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/inets/src/http_server/httpd_request.erl and program routines httpd_request:parse_headers/7. The server does not reject or normalize duplicate Content-Length headers. The earliest Content-Length in the request is used for body parsing while common reverse proxies (nginx, Apache httpd, Envoy) honor the last Content-Length value. This violates RFC 9112 Section 6.3 and allows front-end/back-end desynchronization, leaving attacker-controlled bytes queued as the start of the next request. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 26.2.5.18, OTP 27.3.4.9, and OTP 28.4.1, corresponding to inets from 5.10 before 9.1.0.5, 9.3.2.3, and 9.6.1. Whether OTP before OTP 17.0, corresponding to inets before 5.10, is affected is unknown.
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request Smuggling') vulnerability in Erlang OTP (inets httpd module) allows HTTP Request Smuggling. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/inets/src/http_server/httpd_request.erl and program routines httpd_request:parse_headers/7. The server does not reject or normalize duplicate Content-Length headers. The earliest Content-Length in the request is used for body parsing while common reverse proxies (nginx, Apache httpd, Envoy) honor the last Content-Length value. This violates RFC 9112 Section 6.3 and allows front-end/back-end desynchronization, leaving attacker-controlled bytes queued as the start of the next request. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 until OTP 28.4.1, OTP 27.3.4.9 and OTP 26.2.5.18, corresponding to inets from 5.10 until 9.6.1, 9.3.2.3 and 9.1.0.5. Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request Smuggling') vulnerability in Erlang OTP (inets httpd module) allows HTTP Request Smuggling. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/inets/src/http_server/httpd_request.erl and program routines httpd_request:parse_headers/7. The server does not reject or normalize duplicate Content-Length headers. The earliest Content-Length in the request is used for body parsing while common reverse proxies (nginx, Apache httpd, Envoy) honor the last Content-Length value. This violates RFC 9112 Section 6.3 and allows front-end/back-end desynchronization, leaving attacker-controlled bytes queued as the start of the next request. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 28.4.1, OTP 27.3.4.9 and OTP 26.2.5.18, corresponding to inets from 5.10 before 9.6.1, 9.3.2.3 and 9.1.0.5.
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Erlang erlang\/inets
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/inets:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Erlang erlang\/inets
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.4, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Erlang erlang/otp
Vendors & Products Erlang erlang/otp
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request Smuggling') vulnerability in Erlang OTP (inets httpd module) allows HTTP Request Smuggling. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/inets/src/http_server/httpd_request.erl and program routines httpd_request:parse_headers/7. The server does not reject or normalize duplicate Content-Length headers. The earliest Content-Length in the request is used for body parsing while common reverse proxies (nginx, Apache httpd, Envoy) honor the last Content-Length value. This violates RFC 9112 Section 6.3 and allows front-end/back-end desynchronization, leaving attacker-controlled bytes queued as the start of the next request. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 until OTP 28.4.1, OTP 27.3.4.9 and OTP 26.2.5.18, corresponding to inets from 5.10 until 9.6.1, 9.3.2.3 and 9.1.0.5.
Title Request smuggling via first-wins Content-Length parsing in inets httpd
First Time appeared Erlang
Erlang erlang\/otp
Weaknesses CWE-444
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Erlang
Erlang erlang\/otp
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:L'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
EEF
Published
Updated
Nov 11, 2026, 7:45 PM
Reserved
Jan 19, 2026, 2:23 PM
Status
Modified
Published
Mar 13, 2026, 7:54 PM
Modified
Nov 11, 2026, 8:17 PM