Continued processing of requests after locally generated response
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-416 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
Envoy is an open source L7 proxy and communication bus designed for large modern service oriented architectures. In affected versions after Envoy sends a locally generated response it must stop further processing of request or response data. However when local response is generated due the internal buffer overflow while request or response is processed by the filter chain the operation may not be stopped completely and result in accessing a freed memory block. A specifically constructed request delivered by an untrusted downstream or upstream peer in the presence of extensions that modify and increase the size of request or response bodies resulting in a Denial of Service when using extensions that modify and increase the size of request or response bodies, such as decompressor filter. Envoy versions 1.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4, 1.16.5 contain fixes to address incomplete termination of request processing after locally generated response. As a workaround disable Envoy's decompressor, json-transcoder or grpc-web extensions or proprietary extensions that modify and increase the size of request or response bodies, if feasible.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| envoyproxy | envoy | 1.19.0 to before 1.19.1; 1.18.0 to before 1.18.4; 1.17.0 to before 1.17.4; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.5 | 1.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4, 1.16.5 | Patch available | CNA |
- envoy Vendorenvoyproxy Affected 1.19.0 to before 1.19.1; 1.18.0 to before 1.18.4; 1.17.0 to before 1.17.4; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.5 Fixed in 1.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4, 1.16.5 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 2
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 1.16.0 to before 1.16.5; 1.17.0 to before 1.17.4; 1.18.0 to before 1.18.4 | Vulnerable | envoyproxy |
| cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:1.19.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 1.19.0 | Vulnerable | envoyproxy |
- cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.16.0 to before 1.16.5; 1.17.0 to before 1.17.4; 1.18.0 to before 1.18.4 Vulnerable ·envoyproxy
- cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:1.19.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.19.0 Vulnerable ·envoyproxy
Remediation
- Fix · CNA envoy (envoyproxy) Fixed in 1.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4, 1.16.5
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2021:3272 Released 2021-08-25 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0.7.1 security update
- OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0 servicemesh-2.0.7-3.el8, servicemesh-istioctl-2.0.7-3.el8, servicemesh-mixc-2.0.7-3.el8 +4
- RHSA-2021:3273 Released 2021-08-25 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 1.1.17.1 security update
- OpenShift Service Mesh 1.1 servicemesh-1.1.17-3.el8, servicemesh-citadel-1.1.17-3.el8, servicemesh-galley-1.1.17-3.el8 +7
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| OpenShift Service Mesh 1.1 | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3273 |
| OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0 | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3272 |
Not affected: 2 products
- OpenShift Service Mesh 1.1
- OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-32781
References
More envoyproxy Envoy vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-79288 Out-of-bounds write in Google Brotli decoder KEVCVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.2
- TI-2023-23979 The HTTP/2 protocol allows a denial of service (server resource consumption) because… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-20001 HTTP/2: CPU exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-18524 HTTP/2: memory exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-12215 Envoy client may fake the header `x-envoy-original-path` CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2023-18002 Envoy vulnerable to OAuth2 credentials exploit with permanent validity CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2021-32781 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-32781 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2021-32781 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences