CVE-2026-43966: ninenines cowlib · HTTP Request/Response Splitting
Affects ninenines cowlibSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.3 Medium : upgrade to 4401b858f2229abb3ea115c60924f6c77e5f8aa3 when convenient.
Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 17% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 4401b858f2229abb3ea115c60924f6c77e5f8aa3
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 8 Jun 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade ninenines cowlib to 4401b858f2229abb3ea115c60924f6c77e5f8aa3.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| nineninescowlib | Affected
| Fixed in– |
| nineninescowlib | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Hexcowlibpkg:hex/cowlibOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Hexcowlibpkg:hex/cowlibOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
CPE configurations (1)
cpe:2.3:a:ninenines:cowlib:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
AI-suggested
If you cannot patch yet, users should avoid using attacker-controlled input in structured HTTP headers via cow_http_struct_hd:item/1 or related functions or implement additional input validation and sanitization to prevent CRLF injection.
Description
Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences in HTTP Headers ('HTTP Request/Response Splitting') vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows HTTP response splitting via non-VCHAR bytes in structured-fields string values. cow_http_struct_hd:escape_string/2 in cowlib only escapes \ and ", passing all other bytes through verbatim. This creates an encoder/decoder asymmetry: the matching parser accepts only printable ASCII (0x20–0x7E, excluding " and \), but the encoder emits any byte including CR and LF. An application that builds a structured HTTP header via cow_http_struct_hd:item/1 (or a higher-level wrapper such as cow_http_hd:wt_protocol/1) from attacker-controlled input can have \r\n injected into the serialized header value. Once on the wire, the injected CRLF terminates the current header and any following bytes are interpreted as a new header, enabling HTTP response splitting. This issue affects cowlib: from 2.9.0 onward.
References
- cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-43966.html (opens in a new tab)
- osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-43966 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/ninenines/cowboy/commit/f77cb9b5e730e300fffb551db1ba5d1c4ed878ef (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/ninenines/gun/commit/4f35609eb37109b106a863fc9ba83d7ee64e3e42 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/ninenines/cowlib/commit/a8b793db3d6ffe91d62f81baf41b1dab4cd78fb6 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/ninenines/cowlib/commit/4401b858f2229abb3ea115c60924f6c77e5f8aa3 (opens in a new tab)