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PHP Standard Library: HTTP/2 server-side missing content-length validation enables request smuggling

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published May 23, 2026 in php-standard-library/php-standard-library • Updated Jun 26, 2026

Package

php-standard-library/h2 (Composer)

Affected versions

>= 6.1.0, < 6.1.2
>= 6.2.0, < 6.2.1

Patched versions

6.1.2
6.2.1
php-standard-library/php-standard-library (Composer)
>= 6.1.0, < 6.1.2
>= 6.2.0, < 6.2.1
6.1.2
6.2.1

Description

Impact

Psl\H2\ServerConnection does not validate that the total bytes received in DATA frames match the content-length header declared in the HEADERS frame, in violation of RFC 9113 §8.1.1.

A malicious client can:

  • Send more DATA bytes than declared, smuggling additional content past application-level size limits.
  • Send fewer DATA bytes than declared and close the stream early, causing applications that trust the declared length to behave incorrectly.

The vulnerability is only reachable for consumers using Psl\H2\ServerConnection directly to accept untrusted client traffic. The high-level Psl\HTTP\Server is in active development and was not yet released at the time of this advisory; consumers of documented high-level PSL APIs are not affected.

Patches

Fixed in 6.1.2 and 6.2.1.

  • Parses and validates the content-length header on incoming HEADERS (server-side only — clients do not enforce this per RFC 9110 §9.3.2).
  • Tracks cumulative DATA frame payload length per stream.
  • Throws StreamException on mismatch or overflow.

Regression tests landed in #781, 9 of the new tests fail against the pre-fix code, proving the validation boundary is enforced.

Workarounds

None at the protocol layer. Applications using Psl\H2\ServerConnection directly should upgrade.

Resources

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Jun 17, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jun 26, 2026
Reviewed Jun 26, 2026
Last updated Jun 26, 2026

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(18th percentile)

Weaknesses

Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling')

The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-48979

GHSA ID

GHSA-pw9p-jvrm-f7rm

Credits

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