CVE-2026-54886 — SSH SFTP server denial of service via extended channel data infinite loop

Affected: Erlang OTP

Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') vulnerability in Erlang OTP ssh (ssh_sftpd module) allows an authenticated SFTP user to render an SFTP channel permanently unresponsive.

The handle_data/4 function in ssh_sftpd contains a catch-all clause that accepts channel data of any type. When channel data with a non-zero type code (SSH_MSG_CHANNEL_EXTENDED_DATA) arrives with an empty pending buffer and a payload at or below the SFTP packet size limit, the clause tail-calls itself with identical arguments, creating an infinite loop.

The SFTP protocol operates exclusively on normal channel data (type 0). Extended data (non-zero type) is meaningless for SFTP and is never sent by conforming clients. However, the SSH protocol permits any channel participant to send extended data on an open channel, so an authenticated SFTP client can trigger the loop by sending SSH_MSG_CHANNEL_EXTENDED_DATA with any data_type_code and any non-empty payload at or below the size limit.

The targeted ssh_sftpd process enters an infinite tail-recursive loop. It never processes another message, its message queue grows without bound, and it can only be stopped by killing the process. BEAM's reduction-based scheduler preemption continues to function, so other processes on the node are not starved, but each stuck channel process consumes its full CPU time share continuously and accumulates unbounded message queue memory. Opening many channels amplifies the CPU and memory impact.

Erlang/OTP S…

USN-8901-1 — erlang vulnerabilities

Affected: Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS: erlang, Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS: erlang, Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS: erlang, Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS: erlang, Ubuntu:22.04:LTS: erlang, Ubuntu:24.04:LTS: erlang, Ubuntu:26.04:LTS: erlang

Wander Nauta discovered that Erlang incorrectly handled absolute paths when extracting zip archives. An attacker could possibly use this issue to write arbitrary files outside of the intended directory. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. (CVE-2025-4748)

It was discovered that the Erlang SFTP server did not properly limit the size of packets. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause Erlang to use excessive resources, leading to a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. (CVE-2025-26618)

It was discovered that the Erlang SSH server did not properly limit the length of algorithm names in key exchange messages. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause Erlang to use excessive resources, leading to a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. (CVE-2025-30211)

It was discovered that the Erlang TFTP server incorrectly handled certain file paths. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to access files outside of the intended directory. (CVE-2026-21620)

It was discovered that the Erlang SFTP server incorrectly validated paths against the configured root directory. An authenticated user could possibly use this issue to access files outside of the root directory. (CVE-2026-23942)

It was discovered that the Erlang SSH server enabled zlib compression by default and did not limit…

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CVE-2026-54886 — SSH SFTP server denial of service via extended channel data infinite loop

USN-8901-1 — erlang vulnerabilities