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GHSA-9mqv-5hh9-4cgg: Node.js Adapter for Hono: Unauthenticated memory-leak DoS via aborted WebSocket handshake

mediumCVSS 5.3
Summary A WebSocket upgrade request to an upgradeWebSocket route with a missing or malformed Sec-WebSocket-Key header leaks memory permanently. The request's IncomingMessage is retained in an internal map and a pending promise is never settled, even though no connection is established. Since the route is reachable pre-handshake without authentication, an unauthenticated attacker can flood it to gradually exhaust memory. Details The built-in WebSocket helper cleans up its internal map only on a successful handshake or when the route guard rejects the request. When ws aborts the handshake because Sec-WebSocket-Key is missing or malformed, no connection event is emitted, so neither cleanup path runs and the entry is retained forever. A present-but-malformed key leaks identically, so a proxy that only checks for the header's presence does not mitigate it. Impact An unauthenticated attacker can flood any public upgradeWebSocket route with malformed-key upgrade requests, causing unbounded memory growth and eventual loss of availability. No confidentiality or integrity impact. Reported by @TarPeg007.

Details

Source
GitHub Security Advisories (INTL · database · site)
Severity
medium — CVSS 5.3
Published
2026-07-21
Last updated
2026-07-21
Exploitation
Not in CISA KEV at last sync

Original advisory: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9mqv-5hh9-4cgg

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