CVE-2026-32688 (GCVE-0-2026-32688)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-04-27 13:45 – Updated: 2026-04-29 17:08
VLAI
Title
Atom table exhaustion via HTTP/2 :scheme pseudo-header in plug_cowboy
Summary
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in elixir-plug plug_cowboy allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via atom table exhaustion. Plug.Cowboy.Conn.conn/1 in lib/plug/cowboy/conn.ex calls String.to_atom/1 on the value returned by :cowboy_req.scheme/1. For HTTP/2 connections, cowlib passes the client-supplied :scheme pseudo-header value through verbatim without validation. Each unique value permanently allocates a new entry in the BEAM atom table. Since atoms are never garbage-collected and the atom table has a fixed limit (default 1,048,576), an unauthenticated attacker can exhaust the table by sending HTTP/2 requests with unique :scheme values, causing the Erlang VM to abort with system_limit and taking down the entire node. This vulnerability does not affect HTTP/1.1, where cowboy derives the scheme from the listener type rather than from a client-supplied header. This issue affects plug_cowboy: from 2.0.0 before 2.8.1.
SSVC
Exploitation: none Automatable: yes Technical Impact: partial
CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)
Decision recorded 2026-04-27 19:04 UTC
CWE
  • CWE-770 - Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
elixir-plug plug_cowboy Affected: 2.0.0 , < 2.8.1 (semver)
    cpe:2.3:a:elixir-plug:plug_cowboy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Create a notification for this product.
elixir-plug plug_cowboy Affected: 12ecfd024bb179d48b018fecf074e43fe6a19c83 , < bfb34cb45eb354e56437f7023fb306de1bf9c19b (git)
    cpe:2.3:a:elixir-plug:plug_cowboy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Create a notification for this product.
Show details on NVD website

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              "vendor": "elixir-plug",
              "versions": [
                {
                  "lessThan": "bfb34cb45eb354e56437f7023fb306de1bf9c19b",
                  "status": "affected",
                  "version": "12ecfd024bb179d48b018fecf074e43fe6a19c83",
                  "versionType": "git"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "cpeApplicability": [
            {
              "nodes": [
                {
                  "cpeMatch": [
                    {
                      "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:elixir-plug:plug_cowboy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                      "versionEndExcluding": "2.8.1",
                      "versionStartIncluding": "2.0.0",
                      "vulnerable": true
                    }
                  ],
                  "negate": false,
                  "operator": "OR"
                }
              ],
              "operator": "AND"
            }
          ],
          "credits": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "finder",
              "value": "Peter Ullrich"
            }
          ],
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "supportingMedia": [
                {
                  "base64": false,
                  "type": "text/html",
                  "value": "Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in elixir-plug plug_cowboy allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via atom table exhaustion.\u003cp\u003e\u003ctt\u003ePlug.Cowboy.Conn.conn/1\u003c/tt\u003e in \u003ctt\u003elib/plug/cowboy/conn.ex\u003c/tt\u003e calls \u003ctt\u003eString.to_atom/1\u003c/tt\u003e on the value returned by \u003ctt\u003e:cowboy_req.scheme/1\u003c/tt\u003e. For HTTP/2 connections, cowlib passes the client-supplied \u003ctt\u003e:scheme\u003c/tt\u003e pseudo-header value through verbatim without validation. Each unique value permanently allocates a new entry in the BEAM atom table. Since atoms are never garbage-collected and the atom table has a fixed limit (default 1,048,576), an unauthenticated attacker can exhaust the table by sending HTTP/2 requests with unique \u003ctt\u003e:scheme\u003c/tt\u003e values, causing the Erlang VM to abort with \u003ctt\u003esystem_limit\u003c/tt\u003e and taking down the entire node.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis vulnerability does not affect HTTP/1.1, where cowboy derives the scheme from the listener type rather than from a client-supplied header.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis issue affects plug_cowboy: from 2.0.0 before 2.8.1.\u003c/p\u003e"
                }
              ],
              "value": "Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in elixir-plug plug_cowboy allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via atom table exhaustion.\n\nPlug.Cowboy.Conn.conn/1 in lib/plug/cowboy/conn.ex calls String.to_atom/1 on the value returned by :cowboy_req.scheme/1. For HTTP/2 connections, cowlib passes the client-supplied :scheme pseudo-header value through verbatim without validation. Each unique value permanently allocates a new entry in the BEAM atom table. Since atoms are never garbage-collected and the atom table has a fixed limit (default 1,048,576), an unauthenticated attacker can exhaust the table by sending HTTP/2 requests with unique :scheme values, causing the Erlang VM to abort with system_limit and taking down the entire node.\n\nThis vulnerability does not affect HTTP/1.1, where cowboy derives the scheme from the listener type rather than from a client-supplied header.\n\nThis issue affects plug_cowboy: from 2.0.0 before 2.8.1."
            }
          ],
          "impacts": [
            {
              "capecId": "CAPEC-125",
              "descriptions": [
                {
                  "lang": "en",
                  "value": "CAPEC-125 Flooding"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "metrics": [
            {
              "cvssV4_0": {
                "Automatable": "YES",
                "Recovery": "USER",
                "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackRequirements": "NONE",
                "attackVector": "NETWORK",
                "baseScore": 8.7,
                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
                "providerUrgency": "RED",
                "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
                "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
                "version": "4.0",
                "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "HIGH",
                "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "vulnIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
                "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED"
              },
              "format": "CVSS",
              "scenarios": [
                {
                  "lang": "en",
                  "value": "GENERAL"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "problemTypes": [
            {
              "descriptions": [
                {
                  "cweId": "CWE-770",
                  "description": "CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling",
                  "lang": "en",
                  "type": "CWE"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "providerMetadata": {
            "dateUpdated": "2026-04-28T04:25:01.084Z",
            "orgId": "6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db",
            "shortName": "EEF"
          },
          "references": [
            {
              "tags": [
                "vendor-advisory",
                "related"
              ],
              "url": "https://github.com/elixir-plug/plug_cowboy/security/advisories/GHSA-q8x4-x7mp-5vg2"
            },
            {
              "tags": [
                "related"
              ],
              "url": "https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-32688.html"
            },
            {
              "tags": [
                "related"
              ],
              "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-32688"
            },
            {
              "tags": [
                "patch"
              ],
              "url": "https://github.com/elixir-plug/plug_cowboy/commit/bfb34cb45eb354e56437f7023fb306de1bf9c19b"
            }
          ],
          "source": {
            "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
          },
          "title": "Atom table exhaustion via HTTP/2 :scheme pseudo-header in plug_cowboy",
          "workarounds": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "supportingMedia": [
                {
                  "base64": false,
                  "type": "text/html",
                  "value": "Disable HTTP/2 on the \u003ctt\u003ePlug.Cowboy.https/3\u003c/tt\u003e listener by passing \u003ctt\u003eprotocol_options: %{protocols: [:http]}\u003c/tt\u003e in the cowboy options. This restricts the listener to HTTP/1.1, where the scheme is derived from the listener type and is not attacker-controlled."
                }
              ],
              "value": "Disable HTTP/2 on the Plug.Cowboy.https/3 listener by passing protocol_options: %{protocols: [:http]} in the cowboy options. This restricts the listener to HTTP/1.1, where the scheme is derived from the listener type and is not attacker-controlled."
            }
          ],
          "x_generator": {
            "engine": "cvelib 1.8.0"
          }
        }
      },
      "cveMetadata": {
        "assignerOrgId": "6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db",
        "assignerShortName": "EEF",
        "cveId": "CVE-2026-32688",
        "datePublished": "2026-04-27T13:45:35.160Z",
        "dateReserved": "2026-03-13T09:12:14.475Z",
        "dateUpdated": "2026-04-28T04:25:01.084Z",
        "state": "PUBLISHED"
      },
      "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
      "dataVersion": "5.2"
    }
  }
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

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Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.


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