Detections
Analytics
Amazon Linux 2023 : python3-urllib3 (ALAS2023-2026-1418)
high Nessus Plugin ID 298125
Language:
Synopsis
The remote Amazon Linux 2023 host is missing a security update.Description
It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the ALAS2023-2026-1418 advisory.urllib3 is a user-friendly HTTP client library for Python. Starting in version 1.24 and prior to 2.6.0, the number of links in the decompression chain was unbounded allowing a malicious server to insert a virtually unlimited number of compression steps leading to high CPU usage and massive memory allocation for the decompressed data. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.6.0. (CVE-2025-66418)
urllib3 is a user-friendly HTTP client library for Python. Starting in version 1.0 and prior to 2.6.0, the Streaming API improperly handles highly compressed data. urllib3's streaming API is designed for the efficient handling of large HTTP responses by reading the content in chunks, rather than loading the entire response body into memory at once. When streaming a compressed response, urllib3 can perform decoding or decompression based on the HTTP Content-Encoding header (e.g., gzip, deflate, br, or zstd).
The library must read compressed data from the network and decompress it until the requested chunk size is met. Any resulting decompressed data that exceeds the requested amount is held in an internal buffer for the next read operation. The decompression logic could cause urllib3 to fully decode a small amount of highly compressed data in a single operation. This can result in excessive resource consumption (high CPU usage and massive memory allocation for the decompressed data. (CVE-2025-66471)
urllib3 is an HTTP client library for Python. urllib3's streaming API is designed for the efficient handling of large HTTP responses by reading the content in chunks, rather than loading the entire response body into memory at once. urllib3 can perform decoding or decompression based on the HTTP `Content- Encoding` header (e.g., `gzip`, `deflate`, `br`, or `zstd`). When using the streaming API, the library decompresses only the necessary bytes, enabling partial content consumption. Starting in version 1.22 and prior to version 2.6.3, for HTTP redirect responses, the library would read the entire response body to drain the connection and decompress the content unnecessarily. This decompression occurred even before any read methods were called, and configured read limits did not restrict the amount of decompressed data. As a result, there was no safeguard against decompression bombs. A malicious server could exploit this to trigger excessive resource consumption on the client. Applications and libraries are affected when they stream content from untrusted sources by setting `preload_content=False` when they do not disable redirects. Users should upgrade to at least urllib3 v2.6.3, in which the library does not decode content of redirect responses when `preload_content=False`. If upgrading is not immediately possible, disable redirects by setting `redirect=False` for requests to untrusted source. (CVE-2026-21441)
Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the tested product security advisory.
Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.
Solution
Run 'dnf update python-urllib3 --releasever 2023.10.20260202' or or 'dnf update --advisory ALAS2023-2026-1418 --releasever 2023.10.20260202' to update your system.See Also
https://alas.aws.amazon.com//AL2023/ALAS2023-2026-1418.html
https://alas.aws.amazon.com/faqs.html
https://explore.alas.aws.amazon.com/CVE-2025-66418.html
Plugin Details
Severity: High
ID: 298125
File Name: al2023_ALAS2023-2026-1418.nasl
Version: 1.1
Type: local
Agent: unix
Published: 2/5/2026
Updated: 2/5/2026
Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Continuous Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Nessus Agent, Nessus
Risk Information
VPR
Risk Factor: Medium
Score: 4.4
CVSS v2
Risk Factor: High
Base Score: 7.8
Temporal Score: 5.8
Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-21441
CVSS v3
Risk Factor: High
Base Score: 7.5
Temporal Score: 6.5
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
CVSS v4
Risk Factor: High
Base Score: 8.9
Threat Score: 6.3
Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H
Vulnerability Information
CPE: cpe:/o:amazon:linux:2023, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:python3-urllib3
Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/AmazonLinux/release, Host/AmazonLinux/rpm-list
Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available
Patch Publication Date: 2/5/2026
Vulnerability Publication Date: 12/5/2025