Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request Smuggling') vulnerability in Erlang OTP (inets httpd module) allows HTTP Request Smuggling.

This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/inets/src/http_server/httpd_request.erl and program routines httpd_request:parse_headers/7.

The server does not reject or normalize duplicate Content-Length headers. The earliest Content-Length in the request is used for body parsing while common reverse proxies (nginx, Apache httpd, Envoy) honor the last Content-Length value. This violates RFC 9112 Section 6.3 and allows front-end/back-end desynchronization, leaving attacker-controlled bytes queued as the start of the next request.

This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 until OTP 28.4.1, OTP 27.3.4.9 and OTP 26.2.5.18, corresponding to inets from 5.10 until 9.6.1, 9.3.2.3 and 9.1.0.5.

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Workaround

* Configure frontend proxy to reject requests with duplicate Content-Length headers. * Disable HTTP keep-alive on httpd by adding `{keep_alive, false}` to httpd configuration. Note: This impacts performance for clients making multiple requests. * Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) configured to reject requests with multiple Content-Length headers.

History

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 09:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request Smuggling') vulnerability in Erlang OTP (inets httpd module) allows HTTP Request Smuggling. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/inets/src/http_server/httpd_request.erl and program routines httpd_request:parse_headers/7. The server does not reject or normalize duplicate Content-Length headers. The earliest Content-Length in the request is used for body parsing while common reverse proxies (nginx, Apache httpd, Envoy) honor the last Content-Length value. This violates RFC 9112 Section 6.3 and allows front-end/back-end desynchronization, leaving attacker-controlled bytes queued as the start of the next request. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 until OTP 28.4.1, OTP 27.3.4.9 and OTP 26.2.5.18, corresponding to inets from 5.10 until 9.6.1, 9.3.2.3 and 9.1.0.5.
Title Request smuggling via first-wins Content-Length parsing in inets httpd
First Time appeared Erlang
Erlang erlang\/otp
Weaknesses CWE-444
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Erlang
Erlang erlang\/otp
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:L'}


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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: EEF

Published:

Updated: 2026-03-13T09:11:58.175Z

Reserved: 2026-01-19T14:23:14.343Z

Link: CVE-2026-23941

cve-icon Vulnrichment

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cve-icon NVD

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cve-icon Redhat

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cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

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Weaknesses