CVE-2026-55737
published 2026-07-27CVE-2026-55737: Signed to Unsigned Conversion Error and Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in Erlang OTP erts allows an attacker who can supply a crafted Erlang external term…
PriorityP343high7.5CVSS 3.1
AVNACLPRNUINSUCNINAH
EPSS
0.29%
21.2th percentile
Signed to Unsigned Conversion Error and Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in Erlang OTP erts allows an attacker who can supply a crafted Erlang external term format (ETF) binary to binary_to_term/1 to corrupt the BEAM heap pointer and crash the virtual machine.
When decoding a LARGE_TUPLE_EXT term, the validation pass decoded_size() in erts/emulator/beam/external.c reads the 32-bit arity field as unsigned (get_uint32()), while the decode pass dec_term() reads the same field as a signed 32-bit integer (get_int32()) into an int. An arity wire value of 0x80000000 passes validation as 2147483648 but decodes as -2147483648, so the subsequent hp += n moves the heap allocation pointer backward. Neither pass enforces the runtime tuple-arity limit MAX_ARITYVAL. The result is an out-of-bounds heap write; in practice the VM detects an impossible heap size and aborts, denying service. The required padding is large when uncompressed but the compressed-ETF envelope shrinks it to a small payload on the wire.
This issue affects OTP from OTP 25.0 before OTP 29.0.4, OTP 28.5.0.4 and OTP 27.3.4.15, corresponding to erts from 13.0 before 17.0.4, 16.4.0.4 and 15.2.7.11.
Affected
10 ranges
| Vendor | Product | Version range | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| erlang | erlang_otp | >= 25.0 < 27.3.4.15 | 27.3.4.15 |
| erlang | erlang_otp | >= 28.0 < 28.5.0.4 | 28.5.0.4 |
| erlang | erlang_otp | >= 29.0 < 29.0.4 | 29.0.4 |
| erlang | erts | >= 13.0 < 15.2.7.11 | 15.2.7.11 |
| erlang | erts | >= 16.0 < 16.4.0.4 | 16.4.0.4 |
| erlang | erts | >= 17.0 < 17.0.4 | 17.0.4 |
| erlang | otp | >= 13.0 < * | * |
| erlang | otp | >= 25.0 < * | * |
| erlang | otp | >= ebcbb97b4ec223464cac3d94375739a248ddef6e < c5210b42a9d3d96f3d25601942ce8122be0f3761 | c5210b42a9d3d96f3d25601942ce8122be0f3761 |
| ubuntu | erlang | — | — |
CVSS provenance
nvdv3.17.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
nvdv4.05.1MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/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_ubuntu7.5HIGH
vendor_redhat5.1MEDIUM
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Ubuntu
Erlang vulnerabilities
vendor_ubuntu·2026-09-28·CVSS 7.5
CVE-2026-23941 [HIGH] Erlang vulnerabilities
Title: Erlang vulnerabilities
Summary: Several security issues were fixed in Erlang.
It was discovered that the Erlang Port Mapper Daemon did not properly
handle slow connections. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue
to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2026-42792)
It was discovered that Erlang incorrectly handled certain external term
format data, leading to heap corruption. An attacker could possibly use
this issue to cause Erlang to crash, resulting in a denial of service.
This issue only affected Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.
(CVE-2026-55737)
It was discovered that Erlang incorrectly handled invalid external term
format data. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause Erlang to
crash, resulting in a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu
26.04
Red Hat
erlang-otp: Erlang OTP: Denial of Service via crafted external term format binary
vendor_redhat·2026-07-27·CVSS 5.1
CVE-2026-55737 [MEDIUM] CWE-787 erlang-otp: Erlang OTP: Denial of Service via crafted external term format binary
erlang-otp: Erlang OTP: Denial of Service via crafted external term format binary
A flaw was found in Erlang OTP. A remote attacker can exploit a vulnerability in the Erlang external term format (ETF) decoder by providing a specially crafted binary to the binary_to_term/1 function. This manipulation of data types during processing can corrupt the system's memory, leading to an out-of-bounds write. The ultimate consequence is a denial of service (DoS), causing the Erlang virtual machine to crash.
Package: erlang27 (Red Hat Hardened Images) - Not affected
No detection rules found.
No public exploits indexed.
https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-55737.htmlhttps://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/c5210b42a9d3d96f3d25601942ce8122be0f3761https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-446w-268v-9462https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-55737https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versions
2026-07-27
Published