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.
No advisories yet.
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
Validate all values passed into structured-fields header builders (directly via cow_http_struct_hd:item/1 or indirectly via higher-level wrappers) before calling the encoder. Reject any value that is not from a trusted, application-controlled source or that contains CR (\r) or LF (\n) bytes. Applications using cowboy 2.16.0 or later are protected on the server side by the invalid_response_headers option (defaults to error_terminate), which rejects any outgoing response header value containing CR or LF before it reaches the wire. Applications using gun 2.4.0 or later are protected on the client side by the invalid_request_headers request option (defaults to raise), which raises an exception when an outgoing request header value contains CR or LF.
Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics |
ssvc
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Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:00:00 +0000
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| 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. | |
| Title | HTTP Response Splitting via Non-VCHAR Bytes in cow_http_struct_hd:escape_string/2 | |
| First Time appeared |
Ninenines
Ninenines cowlib |
|
| Weaknesses | CWE-113 | |
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:a:ninenines:cowlib:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Ninenines
Ninenines cowlib |
|
| References |
| |
| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
|
Projects
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: EEF
Published:
Updated: 2026-06-08T18:38:08.160Z
Reserved: 2026-05-04T18:23:25.573Z
Link: CVE-2026-43966
Updated: 2026-06-08T18:38:04.203Z
Status : Received
Published: 2026-06-08T17:16:43.447
Modified: 2026-06-08T17:16:43.447
Link: CVE-2026-43966
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-06-08T19:30:06Z