UBUNTU-CVE-2026-54890 (CVE-2026-54890)

Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu – Published: 2026-07-27 16:17 – Updated: 2026-09-28 20:31 – Source website
VLAI
Details

Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound) vulnerability in erlang otp erlang/otp (erts modules), erlang otp erts (erts modules) allows Forced Integer Overflow, Excessive Allocation. This vulnerability is associated with program files erts/emulator/beam/external.c, emulator/beam/external.c. The BIT_BINARY_EXT tag (77) handler in the External Term Format (ETF) decoder accepts an encoding with both length and trailing-bits fields set to zero. The subsequent computation of the bitstring size underflows an unsigned integer, producing a value of roughly 2^64 that is then passed as a memory allocation size. The allocator aborts the entire node with a message such as "Cannot allocate 2305843009213693951 bytes of memory (of type binary)". The crash is a VM-level abort, not an Erlang-level exception. It cannot be intercepted by supervision trees, by try/catch, or by passing the [safe] option to binary_to_term/2 (which only restricts atom creation and does not perform structural validation of binary encodings). Any application that decodes ETF from untrusted sources via binary_to_term/1,2 or enif_binary_to_term() is exposed. The Erlang distribution protocol also decodes incoming terms through the same code path, but distribution is expected to run on trusted networks per the OTP Secure Coding Guidelines (DSG-011). This issue affects OTP from OTP 27.0 before OTP 29.0.4, OTP 28.5.0.4 and OTP 27.3.4.15, corresponding to erts from 15.0 before 17.0.4, 16.4.0.4 and 15.2.7.11.

Severity
8.2 (High)
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
7.5 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
N/A (UNKNOWN)
medium
References
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "No subscription required",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-asn1",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-base",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-common-test",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-crypto",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-debugger",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-dialyzer",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-diameter",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-edoc",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-eldap",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-et",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-eunit",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-examples",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-ftp",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-inets",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-jinterface",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-megaco",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-mnesia",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-mode",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-nox",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-observer",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-odbc",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-os-mon",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-parsetools",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-public-key",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-reltool",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-runtime-tools",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-snmp",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-src",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-ssh",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-ssl",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-syntax-tools",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-tftp",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-tools",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-wx",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-x11",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "erlang-xmerl",
            "binary_version": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:26.04:LTS",
        "name": "erlang",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/erlang@1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1?arch=source\u0026distro=resolute"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "1:27.3.4.1+dfsg-1build1",
        "1:27.3.4.3+dfsg-1",
        "1:27.3.4.4+dfsg-1",
        "1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [],
  "details": "Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound) vulnerability in erlang otp erlang/otp (erts modules), erlang otp erts (erts modules) allows Forced Integer Overflow, Excessive Allocation. This vulnerability is associated with program files erts/emulator/beam/external.c, emulator/beam/external.c. The BIT_BINARY_EXT tag (77) handler in the External Term Format (ETF) decoder accepts an encoding with both length and trailing-bits fields set to zero. The subsequent computation of the bitstring size underflows an unsigned integer, producing a value of roughly 2^64 that is then passed as a memory allocation size. The allocator aborts the entire node with a message such as \"Cannot allocate 2305843009213693951 bytes of memory (of type binary)\". The crash is a VM-level abort, not an Erlang-level exception. It cannot be intercepted by supervision trees, by try/catch, or by passing the [safe] option to binary_to_term/2 (which only restricts atom creation and does not perform structural validation of binary encodings). Any application that decodes ETF from untrusted sources via binary_to_term/1,2 or enif_binary_to_term() is exposed. The Erlang distribution protocol also decodes incoming terms through the same code path, but distribution is expected to run on trusted networks per the OTP Secure Coding Guidelines (DSG-011). This issue affects OTP from OTP 27.0 before OTP\u00a029.0.4, OTP\u00a028.5.0.4 and OTP\u00a027.3.4.15, corresponding to erts from 15.0 before 17.0.4, 16.4.0.4 and 15.2.7.11.",
  "id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2026-54890",
  "modified": "2026-09-28T20:31:10Z",
  "published": "2026-07-27T16:17:00Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-54890"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-54890"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8827-1"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "USN-8827-1"
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "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",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    },
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "medium",
      "type": "Ubuntu"
    }
  ],
  "upstream": [
    "CVE-2026-54890"
  ]
}



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