CVE Database›CVE-2019-9517

CVE-2019-9517

HTTP/2: request for large response leads to denial of service

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Severity

Important

Red Hat Product Security

7.5

CVSS 3.0

Review impact separately from score.

Published · August 13, 2019

Updated · October 12, 2026

Description

A vulnerability was found in HTTP/2. An attacker can open a HTTP/2 window so the peer can send without constraint. The TCP window remains closed so the peer cannot write the bytes on the wire. The attacker then sends a stream of requests for a large response object. Depending on how the server's queue is setup, the responses can consume excess memory, CPU, or both, potentially leading to a denial of service. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.

Statement

The package httpd versions as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6 and 7 are not affected by this issue as HTTP/2 support is not provided. This flaw has no available mitigation for nodejs package. It will be updated once the available fixes are released for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Software Collections.

The nodejs RPM shipped in OpenShift Container Platform 3.9 and 3.10 is not affected by this flaw as it does not contain the vulnerable code.

CVSS score applicability

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Mitigation

The httpd version shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 provides HTTP/2 support through mod_http2 package. While mod_http2 package is not updated, users can disable HTTP/2 support as mitigation action by executing the following steps:

  1. Stop httpd service: $ systemctl stop httpd

  2. Remove http/2 protocol support from configuration files: $ sed -i 's/(h2)|(h2c)//g' <httpd_config_file>

  3. Validate configuration files to make sure all syntax is valid: $ apachectl configtest

  4. Restart httpd service: $ systemctl start httpd

CVSS / CWE

CVSS 3.0 · 7.5
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWE-400 · Uncontrolled Resource Consumption