h3 vulnerability

h3 versions before 2.0.1-rc.18 fail to validate the chunk count parsed from user-controlled cookie values in setChunkedCookie() and deleteChunkedCookie() functions. Attackers can send a crafted cookie header with an extremely large chunk count to trigger an O(n²) cleanup loop that hangs the server process.

Published 6 Sep 2026Updated 6 Sep 20262 sources
CVSS 8.7

What happened

h3 versions before 2.0.1-rc.18 fail to validate the chunk count parsed from user-controlled cookie values in setChunkedCookie() and deleteChunkedCookie() functions. Attackers can send a crafted cookie header with an extremely large chunk count to trigger an O(n²) cleanup loop that hangs the server process.

Affected versions

h3: 2.0.0-beta.4 through before 2.0.1-rc.18 (semver) Fixed: See vendor advisory.

Why it matters

Review the vendor advisory and exposure of the affected product to determine operational impact.

Detection & mitigation

  • Apply vendor-provided updates or mitigations.
  • Review affected product exposure and access logs.

Public PoC references

No public PoC reference has passed the current publication threshold.