CVE-2026-54890
BEAM VM crash via integer underflow in binary_to_term BIT_BINARY_EXT decoding
Description
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.
INFO
Published Date :
July 27, 2026, 4:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
July 27, 2026, 4:17 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db |
Solution
- Update Erlang/OTP to a version that addresses the vulnerability.
- Apply patches for the identified integer underflow issue.
- Validate ETF decoding from untrusted sources.
- Configure distribution to trusted networks as per guidelines.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-54890.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-54890 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-54890
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-54890 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-54890 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
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New CVE Received by 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
Jul. 27, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\\/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/erlang/otp', 'vendor': 'Erlang', 'modules': ['erts'], 'product': 'OTP', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'changes': [{'at': '15.2.7.11', 'status': 'unaffected'}, {'at': '16.4.0.4', 'status': 'unaffected'}, {'at': '17.0.4', 'status': 'unaffected'}], 'version': '15.0', 'lessThan': '*', 'versionType': 'otp'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:otp/erts?repository_url=https:%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Ferlang%2Fotp&vcs_url=git%20https:%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Ferlang%2Fotp.git', 'packageName': 'erts', 'programFiles': ['emulator/beam/external.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': 'erlang:binary_to_term/1'}, {'name': 'erlang:binary_to_term/2'}]}, {'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\\/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/erlang/otp', 'vendor': 'Erlang', 'modules': ['erts'], 'product': 'OTP', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'changes': [{'at': '27.3.4.15', 'status': 'unaffected'}, {'at': '28.5.0.4', 'status': 'unaffected'}, {'at': '29.0.4', 'status': 'unaffected'}], 'version': '27.0', 'lessThan': '*', 'versionType': 'otp'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '24ef4cbaeda9b9c26682cba75f2f15b0c58722aa', 'lessThan': 'dc1bf9344c0ce62717cf60866590cea0242780fd', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:github/erlang/otp', 'packageName': 'erlang/otp', 'programFiles': ['erts/emulator/beam/external.c'], 'collectionURL': 'https://github.com', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': 'erlang:binary_to_term/1'}, {'name': 'erlang:binary_to_term/2'}]}] Added Description 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. Added CVSS V4.0 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 Added CWE CWE-191 Added CWE CWE-789 Added CWE CWE-1284 Added Reference https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-54890.html Added Reference https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/dc1bf9344c0ce62717cf60866590cea0242780fd Added Reference https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-54pw-5645-jh86 Added Reference https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-54890 Added Reference https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versions