CVE-2026-28898: SwiftNIO HTTP/2 HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1 Request Smuggling Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-4px2-pw77-vc85
CVSS 5.3
CWE-116 CWE-444
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-28898 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.3) http/2-to-http/1 request smuggling vulnerability (CWE-116: Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output) affecting SwiftNIO HTTP/2 libraries in the SwiftURL ecosystem. The issue involves http/2-to-http/1 request smuggling via unvalidated :path pseudo-header in http2tohttp1codec. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.44.0.

CVE-2026-28898 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-28898
GHSA Identifier GHSA-4px2-pw77-vc85
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.3
CWE Classification CWE-116: Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output
Affected Product SwiftNIO HTTP/2
Package Ecosystem SwiftURL
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.3

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:L/I:N/A:N).

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 Low (C:L)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2026-28898

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected SwiftNIO HTTP/2 dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2 fixed: 1.44.0
Upgrade github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2 to 1.44.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

inspect dependencies for github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2026-28898, inspect your project dependencies for SwiftNIO HTTP/2:

inspect dependencies for github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of SwiftNIO HTTP/2 in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.44.0), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-116: Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output, where the product prepares a structured message for communication with another component, but encoding or escaping of the data is either missing or done incorrectly. as a result, the intended structure of the message is not preserved. In SwiftNIO HTTP/2, 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

swift-nio-http2's HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1.1 codec (`HTTP2FramePayloadToHTTP1ServerCodec` / `HTTP2ToHTTP1ServerCodec`) did not validate pseudo-header values for control characters before placing them into the translated HTTP/1.1 message. A remote attacker could send an HTTP/2 request containing CR (\r), LF (\n), or NUL (\0) bytes in pseudo-header values such as `:path`, and when the server translated this to HTTP/1.1 — for example in a reverse-proxy configuration — the resulting output could contain injected headers or entirely smuggled requests. This is an HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1.1 request smuggling vulnerability. HTTP/2's binary framing means that CRLF bytes are never parsed as line terminators at the HTTP/2 layer, so they pass through transparently to the HTTP/1.1 output. Any swift-nio-http2 server that translates HTTP/2 requests to HTTP/1.1 and forwards them to a backend is affected. Server-side Swift frameworks such as Vapor that use this codec in a reverse-proxy pattern are directly affected. This vulnerability is related to https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7fj7-39wj-c64f in swift-nio, which addressed CRLF injection in HTTP/1.1 header values but did not cover pseudo-header values in the HTTP/2 layer. This vulnerability is also related to https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cq87-8r7h-962v in swift-nio, which addressed CRLF injection in HTTP/1.1 version, method and path. swift-nio-http2 1.44.0 adds validation of all pseudo-header values (:path, :authority, :scheme, :method, and :status) at both the HPACK header validation layer and the HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1.1 translation layer. Requests or responses containing CR, LF, or NUL bytes in any pseudo-header value are now rejected with a connection error. SwiftNIO recommends all adopters upgrade to 1.44.0 as soon as possible. SwiftNIO thanks @kuranikaran for filing this issue and the support in fixing it.

CVE-2026-28898 Affected SwiftNIO HTTP/2 Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.44.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2
SwiftURL
< 1.44.0
1.44.0

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-28898?
CVE-2026-28898 is a security vulnerability in SwiftNIO HTTP/2 involving HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1 Request Smuggling via unvalidated :path pseudo-header in HTTP2ToHTTP1Codec under CWE-116: Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output.
Which SwiftNIO HTTP/2 versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.44.0 across affected packages: github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2.
What version fixes CVE-2026-28898?
Upgrading to 1.44.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2 affected?
Yes, github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2 is affected in releases prior to 1.44.0. Upgrade your dependency to 1.44.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-28898?
CVE-2026-28898 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-28898?
CVE-2026-28898 is classified under CWE-116: Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output (The product prepares a structured message for communication with another component, but encoding or escaping of the data is either missing or done incorrectly. As a result, the intended structure of the message is not preserved.).
How can I check SwiftURL dependencies for CVE-2026-28898?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2'. 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
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-4px2-pw77-vc85",
  "modified" : "2026-07-15T21:23:10Z",
  "published" : "2026-06-12T15:08:16Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-28898" ],
  "summary" : "SwiftNIO HTTP/2: HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1 Request Smuggling via unvalidated :path pseudo-header in HTTP2ToHTTP1Codec",
  "details" : "swift-nio-http2's HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1.1 codec (`HTTP2FramePayloadToHTTP1ServerCodec` / `HTTP2ToHTTP1ServerCodec`) did not validate pseudo-header values for control characters before placing them into the translated HTTP/1.1 message. A remote attacker could send an HTTP/2 request containing CR (\\r), LF (\\n), or NUL (\\0) bytes in pseudo-header values such as `:path`, and when the server translated this to HTTP/1.1 — for example in a reverse-proxy configuration — the resulting output could contain injected headers or entirely smuggled requests.\n\nThis is an HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1.1 request smuggling vulnerability. HTTP/2's binary framing means that CRLF bytes are never parsed as line terminators at the HTTP/2 layer, so they pass through transparently to the HTTP/1.1 output. Any swift-nio-http2 server that translates HTTP/2 requests to HTTP/1.1 and forwards them to a backend is affected. Server-side Swift frameworks such as Vapor that use this codec in a reverse-proxy pattern are directly affected.\n\nThis vulnerability is related to https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7fj7-39wj-c64f in swift-nio, which addressed CRLF injection in HTTP/1.1 header values but did not cover pseudo-header values in the HTTP/2 layer.\n\nThis vulnerability is also related to https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cq87-8r7h-962v in swift-nio, which addressed CRLF injection in HTTP/1.1 version, method and path.\n\nswift-nio-http2 1.44.0 adds validation of all pseudo-header values (:path, :authority, :scheme, :method, and :status) at both the HPACK header validation layer and the HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1.1 translation layer. Requests or responses containing CR, LF, or NUL bytes in any pseudo-header value are now rejected with a connection error.\n\nSwiftNIO recommends all adopters upgrade to 1.44.0 as soon as possible.\n\nSwiftNIO thanks @kuranikaran for filing this issue and the support in fixing it.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "SwiftURL",
      "name" : "github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.44.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2/security/advisories/GHSA-4px2-pw77-vc85"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-28898"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2/commit/61d1b44f6e4e118792be1cff88ee2bc0267c6f9a"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apple/swift-nio-http2"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-116", "CWE-444" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-06-12T15:08:16Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-06-25T19:16:36Z"
  }
}