All vulnerabilities
CVE-2026-105274GHSA-7c4r-cgf9-9jmq

rebar3: hex_core decompresses registry and Erlang term API responses without size limits

erlang rebar3
CVSS
2.1Low
ExploitationNo known exploitationNot in CISA KEV, which does not prove it is unexploitedCISA KEV
Exploit odds (EPSS)0.42%Chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 35% of CVEs. Scored 23 Oct 2026FIRST EPSS
Fixed in3.27.3Also 360838a22f5b3a88c0358207f2923059bcbb3afb, 0.20.0 and 1 moreCVE List
Published12 Oct 2026Updated 15 Oct 2026CVE List

What fixes it

A fixed version on one release line is not the upgrade target for every line. Check your exact version and any vendor backports.

Description

Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) vulnerability in hexpm hex_core allows an untrusted repository mirror, or a server answering hex_core's API requests, to exhaust the memory of the Erlang VM running hex_core. The same code is vendored in Hex (mix_hex_repo, mix_hex_api) and rebar3 (r3_hex_repo, r3_hex_api).

hex_repo:get_names/1, hex_repo:get_versions/1, hex_repo:get_package/2 and hex_repo:get_policy/2 decompress the registry response with zlib:gunzip/1 and decode the signed envelope before verifying its signature. A mirror doesn't have the repository's private key, but it chooses the compressed bytes, so a small response decompresses into an envelope of any size before the signature check rejects it.

hex_api decodes responses with the application/vnd.hex+erlang content type through hex_safe_binary_to_term:safe_binary_to_term/1, which calls binary_to_term(Binary, [safe]). The safe option prevents atom creation, but it accepts compressed terms and doesn't limit the size of the decoded term, and the check that rejects functions and ports runs after the term has been built. The fix for CVE-2026-21619 added the safe option and that check without bounding the decoded size.

This issue affects rebar3: from 3.9.1 before 3.27.3; hex: from 2.1.0 before 2.5.2; hex_core: from 0.1.0 before 0.20.0.

Text from CVE List

Affected versions 6

  • rebar3affected: 3.9.1 before 3.27.3CVE List
  • rebar3affected: 209c02ec57c2cc3207ee0174c3af3675b8dc8f79 before 360838a22f5b3a88c0358207f2923059bcbb3afbCVE List
  • hex_coreaffected: 0.1.0 before 0.20.0CVE List
  • hex_coreaffected: fbb6d9de472e5edb8d6fb6b32a91cb266137892e before ebe25d110717f6a3addba5232cd4a7dc1c76b628CVE List
  • hexaffected: 2.1.0 before 2.5.2CVE List
  • hexaffected: 671f695ac548ed01f5828c2a739ecaa942b21007 before d8b60eee97abb119d525306f048969a217d793a5CVE List

References 9