I don't think "virtualization" is quite the right word. "Middleware" is better. "Protocol rewriting" might be more honest. Though in my day we just called this a "hack".

It's certainly nothing new, whether you do it with a CGI script a fancy rewrite module on your reverse proxy or a network "appliance" endpoint like a BIG-IP. It's definitely something every good ops or devops person should be able to pull off to fix those unfixable problems that crop up from vendor intransigence or developer pushback.