Summary
daphne: WebSocket handshake header smuggling through autobahn splitlines() mishandling of non-standard line separators
daphne before 4.2.2 reconstructs a raw HTTP request from Twisted's parsed headers and feeds it to autobahn for WebSocket handshake processing. Twisted does not treat \x0b, \x0c, \x1c, \x1d, \x1e, or \x85 as header line separators, but autobahn decodes header values to str and calls splitlines(). An attacker can exploit this parser differential to inject additional headers into the ASGI scope passed to the application. daphne now rejects requests with these bytes in any header value with a 400 response.
Impact
CVE-2026-44546 has a CVSS score of 3.7 (Low). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (4.2.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-44546? CVE-2026-44546 is a low-severity security vulnerability in daphne (pip), affecting versions < 4.2.2. It is fixed in 4.2.2.
- How severe is CVE-2026-44546? CVE-2026-44546 has a CVSS score of 3.7 (Low). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of daphne are affected by CVE-2026-44546? daphne (pip) versions < 4.2.2 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-44546? Yes. CVE-2026-44546 is fixed in 4.2.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-44546 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-44546 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-44546 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-44546? Upgrade
daphneto 4.2.2 or later.