Skip to main content

Erlang/OTP httpc CVE-2026-55951

| EUVDEUVD-2026-69228 HIGH
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (CWE-770)
2026-09-01 EEF
8.2
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: EEF
Share

Severity by source

Vendor (EEF) PRIMARY
8.2 HIGH
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/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
vuln.today AI
7.5 HIGH

Network-reachable with no authentication required; sole impact is availability via BEAM VM crash; no confidentiality or integrity loss.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
5.9 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from Vendor (EEF).

CVSS VectorVendor: EEF

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
X

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Source Code Evidence Fetched
Sep 01, 2026 - 15:02 vuln.today
Analysis Generated
Sep 01, 2026 - 15:02 vuln.today
CVE Published
Sep 01, 2026 - 14:37 cve.org
HIGH 8.2

DescriptionCVE.org

The Erlang/OTP httpc HTTP client does not enforce a limit on the total size of response headers received from a server. The max_header_size option defaults to nolimit, and httpc_response:parse_headers/6 accumulates every header into a list before the length check runs (which only fires after the terminating CRLF CRLF is received).

A malicious or compromised HTTP server can send an arbitrarily large number of headers, or headers with very large values, causing the client process to allocate unbounded memory until the system runs out of memory or the BEAM VM crashes. A proof-of-concept server sending 100,000 headers of roughly 4000 bytes each caused the client VM to allocate over 13 GB of memory in under 30 seconds.

Any application using httpc:request/4,5 to connect to untrusted servers is affected. No authentication is required: any server the client connects to (including via a redirect or man-in-the-middle) can trigger the exhaustion.

This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 27.3.4.17, from OTP 28.0 before OTP 28.5.0.6, and from OTP 29.0 before OTP 29.0.6, corresponding to inets from 5.10 before 9.3.2.7, from 9.4 before 9.6.2.3, and from 9.7 before 9.7.2. Whether OTP before OTP 17.0, corresponding to inets before 5.10, is affected is unknown.

AnalysisAI

Unbounded memory exhaustion in the Erlang/OTP inets httpc HTTP client allows any server the client connects to - including via redirect or man-in-the-middle - to crash the BEAM VM by returning an arbitrarily large volume of response headers. The root cause is that max_header_size defaults to the atom nolimit and the header accumulation loop in httpc_response:parse_headers/6 collects all header data into an in-process list before any size check fires. …

Unlock full vulnerability intelligence

  • Risk assessment & exploitation conditions
  • Attack chain visualization
  • Remediation with exact patch versions
  • Threat intelligence from 22 sources
  • Personal watchlist & email alerts

Free forever · No credit card required

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata

Recon
technique details hidden
Delivery
technique details hidden
Exploit
technique details hidden
Install
technique details hidden
C2
technique details hidden
Execute
technique details hidden
Impact
technique details hidden

Vulnerability AssessmentAI

Exploitation The target application must invoke httpc:request/4 or httpc:request/5 - Erlang/OTP's built-in HTTP client - and connect to a server the attacker can control, redirect to, or intercept via man-in-the-middle. … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment.
Risk Assessment The CVSS 4.0 score of 8.2 with AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VA:H accurately reflects the threat profile: no authentication is required and the attack is network-delivered from any server the application contacts, but AT:P (attack requirements present) captures the prerequisite that an attacker must control or impersonate a reachable server. … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in.
Exploit Scenario Full exploit scenario with step-by-step reproduction available after sign-in.
Remediation Upgrade to a fixed OTP release: 27.3.4.17 or later, 28.5.0.6 or later, or 29.0.6 or later (corresponding to inets 9.3.2.7, 9.6.2.3, or 9.7.2). … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report.

Recommended ActionAI

Within 24 hours: Inventory all systems running Erlang/OTP and identify installed versions, particularly OTP 27, 28, and 29 branches in both production and development. …

Sign in for detailed remediation steps and compensating controls.

Threat intelligence, references, and detailed analysis are available after sign-in.

More in Otp

View all
CVE-2022-24584 MEDIUM POC
6.5 May 11

Incorrect access control in Yubico OTP functionality of the YubiKey hardware tokens along with the Yubico OTP validation

CVE-2026-55953 CRITICAL
9.1 Jul 27

An on-path attacker can force an Erlang/OTP TLS 1.2 or DTLS client to accept an anonymous cipher suite not offered by th

CVE-2026-49759 HIGH
8.8 Jun 10

Denial of service in Erlang/OTP erts (inet_drv SCTP handler) lets unauthenticated remote attackers crash the BEAM VM by

CVE-2026-55950 HIGH
8.7 Jul 02

Remote denial of service in Erlang/OTP's ssl application (dtls_packet_demux module) lets an unauthenticated attacker cra

CVE-2026-71380 HIGH
8.7 Sep 01

Erlang/OTP's inets HTTP server (httpd) is vulnerable to a slow-body resource exhaustion attack exploitable by unauthenti

CVE-2026-58227 HIGH
8.7 Jul 27

Uncontrolled recursion in the Erlang/OTP ssl application when processing a crafted TLS/DTLS certificate chain allows rem

CVE-2026-74835 HIGH
8.7 Sep 01

Erlang/OTP's inets HTTP server (httpd) fails to enforce an administrator-configured request body-size limit when process

CVE-2026-70399 HIGH
8.7 Sep 01

Unauthenticated denial of service in Erlang/OTP's inets httpd allows any remote attacker to exhaust a server's process p

CVE-2026-59250 HIGH
8.3 Jul 27

We need to output a JSON object based on the CVE-2026-59250 data. We must synthesize from multiple sources: description,

CVE-2026-73276 HIGH
8.3 Sep 01

Remote unauthenticated attackers can exploit Erlang/OTP's built-in inets HTTP server across OTP versions 22.2 through 29

CVE-2026-66357 HIGH
8.3 Sep 01

HTTP request smuggling in Erlang/OTP's built-in inets httpd server allows unauthenticated remote attackers to inject arb

CVE-2026-73812 HIGH
8.3 Sep 01

Request smuggling in Erlang OTP inets (versions 17.0 through 29.x) arises when the httpd server sits behind a Content-Le

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 Affected

Share

CVE-2026-55951 vulnerability details – vuln.today

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy