CVE-2026-43966
Publication date 15 June 2026
Last updated 19 June 2026
Ubuntu priority
Description
Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences in HTTP Headers ('HTTP Request/Response Splitting') vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows HTTP response splitting via non-VCHAR bytes in structured-fields string values. cow_http_struct_hd:escape_string/2 in cowlib only escapes \ and ", passing all other bytes through verbatim. This creates an encoder/decoder asymmetry: the matching parser accepts only printable ASCII (0x20–0x7E, excluding " and \), but the encoder emits any byte including CR and LF. An application that builds a structured HTTP header via cow_http_struct_hd:item/1 (or a higher-level wrapper such as cow_http_hd:wt_protocol/1) from attacker-controlled input can have \r\n injected into the serialized header value. Once on the wire, the injected CRLF terminates the current header and any following bytes are interpreted as a new header, enabling HTTP response splitting. This issue affects cowlib from 2.9.0.
Status
| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
|---|---|---|
| rabbitmq-server | 26.04 LTS resolute |
Not affected
|
| 25.10 questing |
Not affected
|
|
| 24.04 LTS noble |
Not affected
|
|
| 22.04 LTS jammy |
Not affected
|
|
| 20.04 LTS focal |
Not affected
|
|
| 18.04 LTS bionic |
Not affected
|
|
| 16.04 LTS xenial |
Not affected
|
Notes
mdeslaur
while cowlib is vendored into rabbitmq-server, it doesn't appear that rabbitmq-server uses the vulnerable part of cowlib that is covered by this CVE. Marking as not-affected.
Severity score breakdown
CVSS version: CVSS v4.0
Base score
6.3 · Medium
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N