nodejs / nodejs/undici

WebSocket allows more than one CONNECTING connection to the same (host, port)

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bug websocket
Dominant language
JavaScript
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Description

Bug Description

RFC 6455 requires that only one WebSocket connection to a given (host, port) pair be in the CONNECTING state. Multiple connections must be queued:

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6455#section-4.1


   2.  If the client already has a WebSocket connection to the remote
       host (IP address) identified by /host/ and port /port/ pair, even
       if the remote host is known by another name, the client MUST wait
       until that connection has been established or for that connection
       to have failed.  There MUST be no more than one connection in a
       CONNECTING state.  If multiple connections to the same IP address
       are attempted simultaneously, the client MUST serialize them so
       that there is no more than one connection at a time running
       through the following steps.

Undici does not follow this behavior.

Reproducible By

Failing web platform test: https://github.com/web-platform-tests/wpt/blob/master/websockets/constructor/014.html

Minimal Node.js repro:

const { WebSocket } = require("undici");
const { createServer } = require("http");

const server = createServer();

server.on("upgrade", async (req, socket) => {
  // Sleep 2 seconds during handshake
  await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2000));

  const key = req.headers["sec-websocket-key"];
  const hash = require("crypto")
    .createHash("sha1")
    .update(key + "258EAFA5-E914-47DA-95CA-C5AB0DC85B11")
    .digest("base64");

  socket.write(
    "HTTP/1.1 101 Switching Protocols\r\n" +
    "Upgrade: websocket\r\n" +
    "Connection: Upgrade\r\n" +
    `Sec-WebSocket-Accept: ${hash}\r\n\r\n`
  );
  socket.end();
});

server.listen(0, () => {
  const port = server.address().port;
  const times = [];

  for (let i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
    const ws = new WebSocket(`ws://localhost:${port}/`);
    ws.onopen = () => {
      times.push(Date.now());
      ws.close();
      if (times.length === 2) {
        const diff = times[1] - times[0];
        console.log(`Time between onopen events: ${diff}ms`);
        console.log(diff > 1000 ? "PASS: Connections were serialized" : "FAIL: Connections were parallel");
        server.close();
      }
    };
  }
});

Expected Behavior

Time between onopen events: (some larger number)
PASS: Connections were serialized

Logs & Screenshots

Time between onopen events: 1ms
FAIL: Connections were parallel

Environment

  • Node v25.2.1
  • undici 7.18.2
Additional context

I might be able to emulate this with some custom dispatcher? But I'm hoping my users can already pass in a custom dispatcher, and dispatchers are hard to compose...

The ws npm package gets this correct.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reading the RFC 6455 requirement and running the failing web-platform test at websockets/constructor/014.html. Trace Undici's WebSocket connection setup and verify that two connections to the same host and port are serialized. Done means the test and the supplied reproduction show a delay between the two onopen events rather than parallel handshakes.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
networking
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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