CVE-2026-16028: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-4hff-3256-7fpc
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-401
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-16028 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-16028 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-16028
GHSA Identifier GHSA-4hff-3256-7fpc
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-16028

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-16028, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime, where the product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Protocol::HTTP2 versions before 1.14 for Perl allow memory exhaustion via closed streams that stream_state never removes from the connection stream table. When a stream reaches the CLOSED state, stream_state returns the concurrency slot and clears most of the stream's keys, but the entry itself stays in the connection stream table and nothing in the distribution removes it. Stream identifiers increase monotonically, so a peer can open and close streams on one connection indefinitely, each close leaving a residual entry that is retained for the life of the connection. SETTINGS_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS does not bound this. That setting caps how many streams are live at once and is enforced, while the growth is made of streams the cap has already released, so it accumulates with concurrency never exceeding one. The client keeps the same table and grows the same way against a hostile server. Measured against a server built on this module, roughly 920 bytes are retained per closed stream for about 19 bytes on the wire, so 100,000 sequential streams on one connection grow server resident memory by about 88 MiB. The streams are ordinary requests that the application accepts and completes.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-16028 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16028
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/vlet/p5-Protocol-HTTP2/commit/27a488a34d74fd16f123e5e6186d4f677faa246f.patch
metacpan.org/release/crux/protoc... WEB
https://metacpan.org/release/CRUX/Protocol-HTTP2-1.13/source/lib/Protocol/HTTP2/Stream.pm#L113-126
metacpan.org/release/crux/protoc... WEB
https://metacpan.org/release/CRUX/Protocol-HTTP2-1.14/changes
Software Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/09/07/2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-16028?
CVE-2026-16028 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-16028?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-16028?
CVE-2026-16028 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-16028?
CVE-2026-16028 is classified under CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime (The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-16028?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-4hff-3256-7fpc",
  "modified" : "2026-09-08T21:33:08Z",
  "published" : "2026-09-07T21:30:22Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-16028" ],
  "details" : "Protocol::HTTP2 versions before 1.14 for Perl allow memory exhaustion via closed streams that stream_state never removes from the connection stream table.\n\nWhen a stream reaches the CLOSED state, stream_state returns the concurrency slot and clears most of the stream's keys, but the entry itself stays in the connection stream table and nothing in the distribution removes it. Stream identifiers increase monotonically, so a peer can open and close streams on one connection indefinitely, each close leaving a residual entry that is retained for the life of the connection.\n\nSETTINGS_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS does not bound this. That setting caps how many streams are live at once and is enforced, while the growth is made of streams the cap has already released, so it accumulates with concurrency never exceeding one. The client keeps the same table and grows the same way against a hostile server.\n\nMeasured against a server built on this module, roughly 920 bytes are retained per closed stream for about 19 bytes on the wire, so 100,000 sequential streams on one connection grow server resident memory by about 88 MiB. The streams are ordinary requests that the application accepts and completes.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16028"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/vlet/p5-Protocol-HTTP2/commit/27a488a34d74fd16f123e5e6186d4f677faa246f.patch"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://metacpan.org/release/CRUX/Protocol-HTTP2-1.13/source/lib/Protocol/HTTP2/Stream.pm#L113-126"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://metacpan.org/release/CRUX/Protocol-HTTP2-1.14/changes"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/09/07/2"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-401" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-09-07T19:17:25Z"
  }
}