GHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78
MEDIUMGHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.8) Insufficient Random Values vulnerability in io.netty:netty-resolver-dns. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Netty: DNS Cache Poisoning due to Predictable PRNG and Default Static Source Port
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 368,543 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
io.netty:netty-resolver-dns☕io.netty:netty-resolver-dnsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
Netty's DNS resolver uses a predictable PRNG for generating DNS transaction IDs and defaults to a static UDP source port. This combination reduces the entropy of DNS queries, enabling DNS Cache Poisoning (Kaminsky attack).
Details
Two factors contribute to this vulnerability in io.netty.resolver.dns:
- Predictable Query IDs:
DnsQueryIdSpacemanages 16-bit transaction IDs in buckets of 16,384 IDs. It initializes only the first bucket. When an ID is returned, it is pushed back into the bucket at a random index generated by java.util.concurrent.ThreadLocalRandom:
Random random = ThreadLocalRandom.current();
int insertionPosition = random.nextInt(count + 1);
Because ThreadLocalRandom is a predictable LCG and the resolver operates within a single bucket, the sequence of IDs is predictable once the PRNG state is mathematically recovered.
- Default Static Source Port:
DnsNameResolverBuilderdefaults to achannelStrategyofChannelPerResolver. This binds the DatagramChannel once, resulting in a static source port for all subsequent queries.
Combined, a static source port and predictable transaction IDs reduces the entropy required to secure DNS resolution against spoofing.
Impact
DNS Cache Poisoning. Downstream applications using the default Netty DNS resolver may connect to malicious IPs, leading to traffic interception or MitM attacks.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | io.netty:netty-resolver-dns | ≥ 4.2.0.Final&&< 4.2.15.Final | 4.2.15.Final |
| ☕Maven | io.netty:netty-resolver-dns | all versions | 4.1.135.Final |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for io.netty:netty-resolver-dns. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update io.netty:netty-resolver-dns to 4.2.15.Final or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Moderate: This flaw in Netty's DNS resolver could allow a remote attacker to perform DNS cache poisoning. The vulnerability stems from the use of a predictable pseudo-random number generator for DNS transaction IDs and a static UDP source port, which reduces the entropy of DNS queries. This makes it easier for an…
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-xmv7-r254-6q78 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.