CVE-2026-29057: vercel next.js HTTP Request/Response Smuggling

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-29057 is a medium (CVSS 6.5) HTTP Request/Response Smuggling vulnerability in vercel next.js. EPSS estimates a 0.55% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 44.9% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 18-03-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 18-03-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Next.js is a React framework for building full-stack web applications. Starting in version 9.5.0 and prior to versions 15.5.13 and 16.1.7, when Next.js rewrites proxy traffic to an external backend, a crafted `DELETE`/`OPTIONS` request using `Transfer-Encoding: chunked` could trigger request boundary disagreement between the proxy and backend. This could allow request smuggling through rewritten routes. An attacker could smuggle a second request to unintended backend routes (for example, internal/admin endpoints), bypassing assumptions that only the configured rewrite destination/path is reachable. This does not impact applications hosted on providers that handle rewrites at the CDN level, such as Vercel. The vulnerability originated in an upstream library vendored by Next.js. It is fixed in Next.js 15.5.13 and 16.1.7 by updating that dependency’s behavior so `content-length: 0` is added only when both `content-length` and `transfer-encoding` are absent, and `transfer-encoding` is no longer removed in that code path. If upgrading is not immediately possible, block chunked `DELETE`/`OPTIONS` requests on rewritten routes at the edge/proxy, and/or enforce authentication/authorization on backend routes.

• CWE-444Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling')The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.