CVE-2021-28165: High severity Eclipse Jetty vulnerability

Published Apr 1, 2021
·
Updated

Impact When using SSL/TLS with Jetty, either with HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, or WebSocket, the server may receive an invalid large (greater than 17408) TLS frame that is incorrectly handled, causing CPU resources to eventually reach 100% usage.

Workarounds

The problem can be worked around by compiling the following class: java package org.eclipse.jetty.server.ssl.fix6072;

import java.nio.ByteBuffer; import javax.net.ssl.SSLEngine; import javax.net.ssl.SSLEngineResult; import javax.net.ssl.SSLException; import javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException;

import org.eclipse.jetty.io.EndPoint; import org.eclipse.jetty.io.ssl.SslConnection; import org.eclipse.jetty.server.Connector; import org.eclipse.jetty.server.SslConnectionFactory; import org.eclipse.jetty.util.BufferUtil; import org.eclipse.jetty.util.annotation.Name; import org.eclipse.jetty.util.ssl.SslContextFactory;

public class SpaceCheckingSslConnectionFactory extends SslConnectionFactory { public SpaceCheckingSslConnectionFactory(@Name("sslContextFactory") SslContextFactory factory, @Name("next") String nextProtocol) { super(factory, nextProtocol); }

@Override protected SslConnection newSslConnection(Connector connector, EndPoint endPoint, SSLEngine engine) { return new SslConnection(connector.getByteBufferPool(), connector.getExecutor(), endPoint, engine, isDirectBuffersForEncryption(), isDirectBuffersForDecryption()) { @Override protected SSLEngineResult unwrap(SSLEngine sslEngine, ByteBuffer input, ByteBuffer output) throws SSLException { SSLEngineResult results = super.unwrap(sslEngine, input, output);

if ((results.getStatus() == SSLEngineResult.Status.BUFFERUNDERFLOW || results.getStatus() == SSLEngineResult.Status.OK && results.bytesConsumed() == 0 && results.bytesProduced() == 0) && BufferUtil.space(input) == 0) { BufferUtil.clear(input); throw new SSLHandshakeException("Encrypted buffer max length exceeded"); } return results; } }; } } This class can be deployed by: + The resulting class file should be put into a jar file (eg sslfix6072.jar) + The jar file should be made available to the server. For a normal distribution this can be done by putting the file into ${jetty.base}/lib + Copy the file ${jetty.home}/modules/ssl.mod to ${jetty.base}/modules + Edit the ${jetty.base}/modules/ssl.mod file to have the following section:

[lib] lib/sslfix6072.jar

+ Copy the file ${jetty.home}/etc/jetty-https.xml and${jetty.home}/etc/jetty-http2.xml to ${jetty.base}/etc + Edit files ${jetty.base}/etc/jetty-https.xml and ${jetty.base}/etc/jetty-http2.xml, changing any reference of org.eclipse.jetty.server.SslConnectionFactory to org.eclipse.jetty.server.ssl.fix6072.SpaceCheckingSslConnectionFactory. For example: xml <Call name="addIfAbsentConnectionFactory"> <Arg> <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.server.ssl.fix6072.SpaceCheckingSslConnectionFactory"> <Arg name="next">http/1.1</Arg> <Arg name="sslContextFactory"><Ref refid="sslContextFactory"/></Arg> </New> </Arg> </Call> + Restart Jetty

Other sources

Eclipse Jetty is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by improper input valistion. By sending a specially-crafted TLS frame, a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause CPU resources to reach to 100% usage.

IBM

In Eclipse Jetty 7.2.2 to 9.4.38, 10.0.0.alpha0 to 10.0.1, and 11.0.0.alpha0 to 11.0.1, CPU usage can reach 100% upon receiving a large invalid TLS frame.

When using SSL/TLS with Jetty, either with HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, or WebSocket, the server may receive an invalid large (greater than 17408) TLS frame that is incorrectly handled, causing high CPU resources utilization. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to service availability.

Affected Software

34 affected componentsFixes available
maven/org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-server>=11.0.0<11.0.2
11.0.2
maven/org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-server>=10.0.0<10.0.2
10.0.2
maven/org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-server>=7.2.2<9.4.39
9.4.39
redhat/rh-eclipse-jetty<0:9.4.40-1.1.el7_9
0:9.4.40-1.1.el7_9
redhat/jenkins<0:2.277.3.1620393611-1.el8
0:2.277.3.1620393611-1.el8
redhat/runc<0:1.0.0-95.rhaos4.8.gitcd80260.el8
0:1.0.0-95.rhaos4.8.gitcd80260.el8
debian/jetty9
9.4.16-0+deb10u19.4.50-4+deb10u19.4.39-3+deb11u29.4.50-4+deb11u19.4.50-4+deb12u29.4.53-1
redhat/jetty<9.4.39
9.4.39
redhat/jetty<10.0.2
10.0.2
redhat/jetty<11.0.2
11.0.2
Eclipse Jetty>=7.2.2<9.4.39
Eclipse Jetty>=10.0.0<10.0.2
Eclipse Jetty>=11.0.0<11.0.2
Oracle Autovue For Agile Product Lifecycle Management=21.0.2
Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy=1.14.0
Oracle Communications Element Manager=8.2.2
Oracle Communications Services Gatekeeper=7.0
Oracle Communications Session Report Manager>=8.0.0.0<=8.2.4.0
Oracle Communications Session Route Manager>=8.0.0.0<=8.2.4.0
Oracle REST Data Services<21.3
Oracle Siebel Core - Automation<=21.9
Jenkins Jenkins<2.277.3
Jenkins Jenkins<2.286
NetApp Cloud Manager<3.9.8
NetApp E-series Performance Analyzer<3.0
NetApp E-Series SANtricity OS Controller>=11.0.0<11.70.1
NetApp E-series Santricity Storage Vcenter<1.10
NetApp E-series Santricity Web Services Web Services Proxy<5.1
NetApp Ontap Tools Vmware Vsphere<9.10
NetApp Santricity Cloud Connector
NetApp SANtricity Web Services Proxy<5.1
NetApp Snapcenter<4.6
NetApp Storage Replication Adapter For Clustered Data Ontap Vmware Vsphere<9.10
NetApp Vasa Provider For Clustered Data Ontap<9.10

Remediation

Event History

Apr 1, 2021
CVE Published
12:00 AM
CVE Published
via MITRE·02:20 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·02:20 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Data Sourced
via NVD·03:15 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·05:50 PM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Apr 6, 2021
Advisory Published
05:31 PM
Jun 29, 2021
Data Sourced
via IBM·12:00 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Free Weekly Intel

Don't miss critical vulnerabilities

Join thousands of security professionals who receive our weekly digest of trending CVEs, zero-days, and exploited vulnerabilities.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the vulnerability ID?

The vulnerability ID is CVE-2021-28165.

2

What is the severity of CVE-2021-28165?

The severity of CVE-2021-28165 is high (7.5).

3

Which software is affected by CVE-2021-28165?

Jetty server versions 7.2.2 to 9.4.38, 10.0.0.alpha0 to 10.0.1, and 11.0.0.alpha0 to 11.0.1 are affected by CVE-2021-28165.

4

How can I fix CVE-2021-28165?

To fix CVE-2021-28165, you should update Jetty server to version 9.4.39, 10.0.2, or 11.0.2.

5

Where can I find more information about CVE-2021-28165?

You can find more information about CVE-2021-28165 at the following references: - [GitHub Security Advisory](https://github.com/eclipse/jetty.project/security/advisories/GHSA-26vr-8j45-3r4w) - [NIST NVD](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-28165) - [Apache ZooKeeper Mailing List](https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r002258611ed0c35b82b839d284b43db9dcdec120db8afc1c993137dc@%3Cnotifications.zookeeper.apache.org%3E)

Contact

SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
132 Wickham Terrace
Fortitude Valley,
QLD 4006, Australia
info@secalerts.co
By using SecAlerts services, you agree to our services end-user license agreement. This website is safeguarded by reCAPTCHA and governed by the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. All names, logos, and brands of products are owned by their respective owners, and any usage of these names, logos, and brands for identification purposes only does not imply endorsement. If you possess any content that requires removal, please get in touch with us.
© 2026 SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
ABN: 70 645 966 203, ACN: 645 966 203