relay: limit size of decompressed websocket frame to prevent memory exhaustion (GHSA-v2v4-45wm-5cr3)

An authenticated relay client using the permessage-deflate websocket
extension could send a small compressed frame that decompresses to an
unbounded amount of data, exhausting all memory and crashing WeeChat.

The output buffer in relay_websocket_inflate is now capped to
WEBSOCKET_INFLATE_MAX_SIZE: frames decompressing beyond this limit are
rejected and the connection is closed.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
 - core: fix option weechat.look.color_real_white not applied when color is "white" on 16+ colors terminals ([#1742](https://github.com/weechat/weechat/issues/1742))
 - irc: fix tag in message with list of names when joining a channel
 - fset: remove error displayed in core buffer when clicking with the mouse below the last option displayed
+- relay: limit size of decompressed websocket frame with permessage-deflate to prevent memory exhaustion ([GHSA-v2v4-45wm-5cr3](https://github.com/weechat/weechat/security/advisories/GHSA-v2v4-45wm-5cr3))
 
 ## Version 4.9.0 (2026-03-29)
 

src/plugins/relay/relay-websocket.c

@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ relay_websocket_inflate (const void *data, size_t size, z_stream *strm,
     int rc;
     unsigned char append_bytes[4] = { 0x00, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xFF };
     Bytef *data2, *dest, *dest2;
-    uLongf size2, dest_size;
+    uLongf size2, dest_size, new_size;
 
     if (!data || (size == 0) || !strm || !size_decompressed)
         return NULL;
@@ -549,8 +549,13 @@ relay_websocket_inflate (const void *data, size_t size, z_stream *strm,
     memcpy (data2, data, size);
     memcpy (data2 + size, append_bytes, sizeof (append_bytes));
 
-    /* estimate the decompressed size, by default 10 * size */
-    dest_size = 10 * size2;
+    /*
+     * estimate the decompressed size, by default 10 * size, capped to the
+     * maximum allowed size (also prevents an integer overflow on the
+     * multiplication)
+     */
+    dest_size = (size2 > WEBSOCKET_INFLATE_MAX_SIZE / 10) ?
+        WEBSOCKET_INFLATE_MAX_SIZE : 10 * size2;
     dest = malloc (dest_size);
     if (!dest)
         goto error;
@@ -579,8 +584,19 @@ relay_websocket_inflate (const void *data, size_t size, z_stream *strm,
                 && (strm->avail_in > 0)))
         {
             /* output buffer is not large enough */
-            strm->avail_out += dest_size;
-            dest_size *= 2;
+            if (dest_size >= WEBSOCKET_INFLATE_MAX_SIZE)
+            {
+                /*
+                 * decompressed data is too large: reject the frame
+                 * (protection against a "deflate bomb")
+                 */
+                goto error;
+            }
+            /* double the buffer, capped to the maximum allowed size */
+            new_size = (dest_size > WEBSOCKET_INFLATE_MAX_SIZE / 2) ?
+                WEBSOCKET_INFLATE_MAX_SIZE : dest_size * 2;
+            strm->avail_out += (uInt)(new_size - dest_size);
+            dest_size = new_size;
             dest2 = realloc (dest, dest_size);
             if (!dest2)
                 goto error;

src/plugins/relay/relay-websocket.h

@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@
 
 #define WEBSOCKET_SUB_PROTOCOL_API_WEECHAT "api.weechat"
 
+/*
+ * maximum size of a decompressed websocket frame (with "permessage-deflate"):
+ * used as an upper bound when inflating, to prevent a small compressed frame
+ * from decompressing to an unbounded amount of data ("deflate bomb")
+ */
+#define WEBSOCKET_INFLATE_MAX_SIZE (8 * 1024 * 1024)
+
 struct t_relay_client;
 struct t_relay_http_request;
 

tests/unit/plugins/relay/test-relay-websocket.cpp

@@ -466,6 +466,41 @@ TEST(RelayWebsocket, Inflate)
     free (payload_comp);
 
     relay_websocket_deflate_free (ws_deflate);
+
+    /*
+     * protection against "deflate bomb": a small compressed frame that
+     * decompresses to more than WEBSOCKET_INFLATE_MAX_SIZE must be rejected
+     * (relay_websocket_inflate returns NULL)
+     */
+    ws_deflate = relay_websocket_deflate_alloc ();
+    CHECK(ws_deflate);
+    ws_deflate->window_bits_deflate = 15;
+    ws_deflate->window_bits_inflate = 15;
+    ws_deflate->strm_deflate = (z_stream *)calloc (1, sizeof (*ws_deflate->strm_deflate));
+    CHECK(ws_deflate->strm_deflate);
+    LONGS_EQUAL(1, relay_websocket_deflate_init_stream_deflate (ws_deflate));
+    ws_deflate->strm_inflate = (z_stream *)calloc (1, sizeof (*ws_deflate->strm_inflate));
+    CHECK(ws_deflate->strm_inflate);
+    LONGS_EQUAL(1, relay_websocket_deflate_init_stream_inflate (ws_deflate));
+
+    /* highly compressible payload that decompresses past the maximum size */
+    size_t bomb_size = WEBSOCKET_INFLATE_MAX_SIZE + (1024 * 1024);
+    char *bomb = (char *)calloc (1, bomb_size);
+    CHECK(bomb);
+
+    payload_comp = (char *)relay_websocket_deflate (bomb, bomb_size,
+                                                    ws_deflate->strm_deflate, &size_comp);
+    CHECK(payload_comp);
+    CHECK(size_comp < bomb_size);
+
+    payload_decomp = (char *)relay_websocket_inflate (payload_comp, size_comp,
+                                                      ws_deflate->strm_inflate, &size_decomp);
+    POINTERS_EQUAL(NULL, payload_decomp);
+
+    free (payload_comp);
+    free (bomb);
+
+    relay_websocket_deflate_free (ws_deflate);
 }
 
 /*