Elixir protobuf: Unbounded recursion depth in embedded-message decoding

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-54451
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-09-17 19:16:50 UTC
Updated2026-09-24 21:16:28 UTC
DescriptionElixir protobuf is a pure Elixir implementation of Google Protobuf. From 0.8.0 until 0.16.1, services that decode attacker-controlled protobuf bytes with Protobuf.Decoder can be taken offline when the schema contains a self-referential or cyclic message type. In lib/protobuf/decoder.ex, Protobuf.Decoder.value_for_field/3 handles an embedded?: true field by recursively entering the decode / build_message / handle_value / value_for_field call chain without enforcing a nesting-depth limit. Deeply nested embedded fields retain non-tail recursive frames, allowing a comparatively small request to consume substantial CPU and memory, pin a BEAM scheduler, and exhaust the node. This issue is fixed in version 0.16.1.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 8.2 HIGH from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.005240000 probability, percentile 0.420010000 (date 2026-09-25)

Problem Types: CWE-674 | CWE-674 CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary8.2HIGHCVSS: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/C...
4.0CNADECLARED8.2HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Elixir-protobuf Protobuf affected >= 0.8.0, < 0.16.1 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/commit/b8efa97790eece3d2d0e8e7c31a45... [email protected] github.com
github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/releases/tag/v0.16.1 [email protected] github.com
github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/security/advisories/GHSA-rv48-qqj5-crxg 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 github.com
github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/commit/352d1769a0ef575a8d18c3f962060... [email protected] github.com
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