Use After FreeWeakness · CWE-416

CVE-2025-11677

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-10-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Use After Free in WebSocket server implementation in lws_handshake_server in warmcat libwebsockets may allow an attacker, in specific configurations where the user provides a callback function that handles LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE, to achieve denial of service.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A Use After Free vulnerability exists in the WebSocket handshake server (lws_handshake_server) of the libwebsockets library. When a user provides a callback function handling LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE, memory is freed but subsequently accessed, leading to potential denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade libwebsockets to a patched version if available, or avoid using the LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE callback configuration until a fix is released.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify libwebsockets installation
    Search for libwebsockets library files (e.g., libwebsockets.so, libwebsockets.a) or check package manager listings (dpkg -l | grep libwebsockets, rpm -qa | grep libwebsockets)
    Affected if libwebsockets is not installed or not in use
  2. Determine installed version
    Run 'pkg-config --modversion libwebsockets' or check library file version with 'strings libwebsockets.so | grep -i version' or review build configuration
    Affected if version cannot be determined or is older than the patched release
  3. Locate application code using LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE
    Search source code for 'LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE' string using grep -r 'LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE' /path/to/code
    Affected if callback LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE is registered in the application
  4. Verify callback implementation accesses freed memory
    Review the callback function implementation to confirm it performs memory operations after potential free/cleanup paths
    Affected if callback code performs memory access after free operations in the handshake flow
  5. Check for WebSocket upgrade configuration
    Review server initialization code for websocket protocol setup and LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE registration via callback_protocols or user callbacks
    Affected if websocket upgrade handling is configured with custom callbacks

User is affected if libwebsockets is in use with LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE callback handling, where the callback or library code may access memory after it has been freed during the WebSocket handshake process.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade libwebsockets to a patched version if available, or avoid using the LWS_CALLBACK_HTTP_CONFIRM_UPGRADE callback configuration until a fix is released.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
26.0 hours of engineering $4,580
Get help mitigating

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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-11677 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data