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CVE-2023-38697 — Vulnerability in protocol-http1 — CVE Details

MEDIUM

protocol-http1 HTTP Request/Response Smuggling vulnerability

Published August 3, 2023Updated September 10, 2026Source: osv

Summary

### Impact [RFC 9112 Section 7.1](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9112#name-chunked-transfer-coding) 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

Advisory Timeline

  • First published August 3, 2023 (1166 days ago).
  • Last revised September 10, 2026 — 1133 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Bundler
Update protocol-http1 to 0.15.1 or later
gem install protocol-http1 -v 0.15.1

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (1)

Affects 1 ecosystem: rubygems (1).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
protocol-http1
rubygems
0.1.0, 0.10.0, 0.10.1, 0.10.2 (+26 more)0.15.1

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 5.8 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-38697?
protocol-http1 HTTP Request/Response Smuggling vulnerability This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of MEDIUM (CVSS score: 5.8/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2023-38697?
CVE-2023-38697 affects protocol-http1. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2023-38697 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
5.8

Exploitation requires specific conditions or has limited impact. Remediate within weeks.

Also Known As

GHSA-6jwc-qr2q-7xwj

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