23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC
Elixir protobuf: Unbounded recursion depth in embedded-message decoding
cve-program · CVE-2026-54451 · Published
CVE-2026-54451
Elixir protobuf: Unbounded recursion depth in embedded-message decoding
CVSS 4.0 8.2 HIGHCheck source for fixed versionsKEV status unknown
cve-program · CVE-2026-54451
PublishedElixir 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.
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