Akka HTTP 10.1.x before 10.1.15 and 10.2.x before 10.2.7 can encounter stack exhaustion while parsing HTTP headers, which allows a remote attacker to conduct a Denial of Service attack by sending a User-Agent header with deeply nested comments.
CVE-2021-42697
This high-severity CVE scores 7.5 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 75.5%, top 1% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 7.5
- EG Score
- 7.5(medium)
- EPSS
- 98.3%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
November 2, 2021
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (10)
- cve@mitrehttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167018/Akka-HTTP-10.1.14-Denial-Of-Service.html
- cve@mitrehttps://akka.io/blog/
- cve@mitrehttps://akka.io/blog/news/2021/11/02/akka-http-10.2.7-released
- cve@mitrehttps://akka.io/blog/news/2021/11/22/akka-http-10.1.15-released
- cve@mitrehttps://doc.akka.io/docs/akka-http/current/security/2021-CVE-2021-42697-stack-overflow-parsing-user-agent.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167018/Akka-HTTP-10.1.14-Denial-Of-Service.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://akka.io/blog/
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://akka.io/blog/news/2021/11/02/akka-http-10.2.7-released
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://akka.io/blog/news/2021/11/22/akka-http-10.1.15-released
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://doc.akka.io/docs/akka-http/current/security/2021-CVE-2021-42697-stack-overflow-parsing-user-agent.html
Affected Packages
(7 across 1 ecosystem)
Maven(7)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| com.typesafe.akka:aakka-http-core_2.13.0-M3 | — | — | — |
| com.typesafe.akka:akka-http-core_2.11 | 10.1.0 ... 10.1.9 (15 versions) | 10.1.15 | — |
| com.typesafe.akka:akka-http-core_2.12 | 10.2.0 ... 10.2.6 (12 versions) | 10.2.7 | — |
| com.typesafe.akka:akka-http-core_2.13 | 10.2.0 ... 10.2.6 (12 versions) | 10.2.7 | — |
| com.typesafe.akka:akka-http-core_2.13.0-M5 | 10.1.7, 10.1.8 | — | — |
| com.typesafe.akka:akka-http-core_2.13.0-RC2 | 10.1.8 | — | — |
| com.typesafe.akka:akka-http-core_2.13.0-RC3 | 10.1.8 | — | — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 6× in last 7d / 39× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-30 08:00 UTCOSV refresh
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- 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-12 17:40 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-11 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-26 08:09 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 04:16 UTCOSV refresh
Publicly available exploits
(1 reference)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Exploit-DBEDB-50892First seen May 11, 2022
Akka HTTP 10.1.14 - Denial of Service
Open source ↗
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2021-42697?
When was CVE-2021-42697 disclosed?
Is CVE-2021-42697 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-42697?
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Dependency Blast Radius
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