Hex release-age cooldown is lifted package-wide when the locked release is retired
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-105668 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | EEF |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-10-12 16:17:02 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-10-13 14:31:20 UTC |
| Description | Protection Mechanism Failure vulnerability in hexpm hex allows the owner of a package, or an attacker who has taken over the owner's account, to get a newly published release past the release-age cooldown. The cooldown (cooldown config, HEX_COOLDOWN) withholds versions younger than the configured age during dependency resolution. When the release of a package locked in mix.lock is retired or has a security advisory, Hex.RemoteConverger.build_cooldown_bypass/3 and Hex.RemoteConverger.unsafe_lock_bypass/1 lift the cooldown for every version of that package and of every package the locked release depends on, so that mix deps.update can move off the unsafe release. Retiring a release needs the same package owner permission as publishing one. An attacker who publishes a malicious release can retire the currently locked release, and the next mix deps.update that unlocks the package selects the new release regardless of its age. Hex.Registry.Cooldown.versions/2 checks the bypass by package name alone, so the bypass also covers packages with the same name in other repositories. Cooldown configured through an organization dependency policy is not affected. This issue affects hex: from 2.5.0 before 2.5.2. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 7.1 HIGH from 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/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
Problem Types: CWE-693 | CWE-693 CWE-693 Protection Mechanism Failure
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | Secondary | 7.1 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 7.1 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/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
Vendor Declared Affected Products
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/hexpm/hex/commit/eed2bdf85320ae9e244629511c03f5f3f8c5d0b5 | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | github.com | |
| github.com/hexpm/hex/security/advisories/GHSA-pqhp-5x9x-69h7 | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | github.com | |
| github.com/hexpm/hex/commit/1b6fddfeadd98ed26a143f60356efade0494e2ae | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | github.com | |
| osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-105668 | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | osv.dev | |
| github.com/hexpm/hex/commit/b4e665d46be8a5f81e8cbbe4c3a67058a19cf133 | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | github.com | |
| cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-105668.html | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | cna.erlef.org | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: Peter Ullrich (en)
CNA: Eric Meadows-Jönsson (en)
CNA: Eric Meadows-Jönsson (en)
CNA: Jonatan Männchen / EEF (en)
Additional Advisory Data
Solutions
CNA: Upgrade Hex to 2.5.2 or later, for example with mix local.hex. A retired locked release then no longer lifts the release-age cooldown for its package. A locked release with a security advisory still lifts it for its package and the direct dependencies of the locked release, only in the repository the package is locked from.
Workarounds
CNA: Enforce the cooldown through an organization dependency policy instead of the local cooldown setting, or run mix hex.audit before mix deps.update and don't update a package whose locked release was retired until its replacement has been reviewed.