CVE-2024-47535 in Netty
Summary
by MITRE • 11/12/2024
Netty is an asynchronous event-driven network application framework for rapid development of maintainable high performance protocol servers & clients. An unsafe reading of environment file could potentially cause a denial of service in Netty. When loaded on an Windows application, Netty attempts to load a file that does not exist. If an attacker creates such a large file, the Netty application crashes. This vulnerability is fixed in 4.1.115.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/23/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-47535 affects Netty, a widely-used asynchronous event-driven network application framework that facilitates rapid development of high-performance protocol servers and clients. This framework is extensively deployed across enterprise environments for building scalable network applications and is particularly prevalent in Java-based systems where performance and concurrency are critical requirements. The vulnerability manifests specifically within Windows application contexts where Netty attempts to process environment files that may not exist, creating a potential denial of service condition that can severely impact system availability and operational continuity.
The technical flaw resides in Netty's handling of environment file loading operations on Windows platforms, where the framework attempts to read a file that may not be present in the expected location. This unsafe reading behavior becomes problematic when an attacker deliberately creates a large file that triggers the application crash condition. The vulnerability represents a classic case of improper error handling and resource management, where the framework fails to adequately validate the existence and accessibility of environment files before attempting to process them. This flaw can be categorized under CWE-457 as "Use of Uninitialized Variable" and also aligns with CWE-248 as "Uncaught Exception" in its manifestation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can be exploited to cause system instability and potentially compromise the availability of network services that depend on Netty. When an attacker successfully triggers this condition by creating a large file that causes Netty to crash, the resulting denial of service can affect not only the specific application but also potentially impact other services running on the same system or network infrastructure. This vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where Netty is often used for critical infrastructure components such as API gateways, load balancers, and microservices communication layers. The exploitability of this vulnerability is enhanced by the fact that it requires minimal privileges and can be executed through file system manipulation, making it accessible to various threat actors.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-47535 should prioritize the immediate upgrade to Netty version 4.1.115, which contains the necessary patches to address the unsafe file reading behavior. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring solutions to detect unusual file system activity that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly around environment file locations. Additionally, system administrators should consider implementing file system access controls and permissions that limit the ability of unprivileged users to create large files in directories where Netty applications operate. The vulnerability's characteristics align with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for "Endpoint Denial of Service" and may also relate to T1059.007 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell" if attackers use PowerShell to create the large files. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and application whitelisting to limit the potential impact of such vulnerabilities and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing denial of service conditions in network application frameworks.