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 :
Oct. 24, 2026, 1:10 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-54890
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 | |||||
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | [email protected] | ||||
| 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.
| URL | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-54890.html | Patch Third Party Advisory |
| https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/dc1bf9344c0ce62717cf60866590cea0242780fd | Patch |
| https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-54pw-5645-jh86 | Vendor Advisory |
| https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-54890 | Patch Third Party Advisory |
| https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versions | Release Notes |
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.
-
CVE Translated by [email protected]
Oct. 24, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Translation Title: OTP de Erlang, Description: Vulnerabilidad de desbordamiento negativo de entero (wrap o wraparound) en erlang otp erlang/otp (módulos erts), erlang otp erts (módulos erts) permite el desbordamiento de entero forzado, asignación excesiva. Esta vulnerabilidad está asociada con los archivos de programa erts/emulator/beam/external.c, emulator/beam/external.c. El gestor de la etiqueta BIT_BINARY_EXT (77) en el decodificador de Formato de Término Externo (ETF) acepta una codificación con los campos de longitud y bits finales (trailing-bits) establecidos a cero. El cálculo subsiguiente del tamaño de la cadena de bits (bitstring) causa un desbordamiento negativo en un entero sin signo, produciendo un valor de aproximadamente 2^64 que luego se pasa como tamaño de asignación de memoria. El asignador aborta el nodo completo con un mensaje como ’Cannot allocate 2305843009213693951 bytes of memory (of type binary)’. El fallo es una anulación a nivel de VM, no una excepción a nivel de Erlang. No puede ser interceptado por árboles de supervisión, por try/catch, o pasando la opción [safe] a binary_to_term/2 (que solo restringe la creación de átomos y no realiza la validación estructural de las codificaciones binarias). Cualquier aplicación que decodifique ETF de fuentes no confiables a través de binary_to_term/1,2 o enif_binary_to_term() está expuesta. El protocolo de distribución de Erlang también decodifica los términos entrantes a través de la misma ruta de código, pero se espera que la distribución se ejecute en redes confiables según las Directrices de Codificación Segura de OTP (DSG-011). Este problema afecta a OTP desde OTP 27.0 antes de OTP 29.0.4, OTP 28.5.0.4 y OTP 27.3.4.15, correspondiendo a erts desde 15.0 antes de 17.0.4, 16.4.0.4 y 15.2.7.11. -
Initial Analysis by [email protected]
Aug. 10, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 28.0 up to (excluding) 28.5.0.4 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 29.0 up to (excluding) 29.0.4 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erts:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 16.0 up to (excluding) 16.4.0.4 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erts:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 17.0 up to (excluding) 17.0.4 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 27.0 up to (excluding) 27.3.4.15 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erts:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 15.0 up to (excluding) 15.2.7.11 Added Reference Type EEF: https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-54890.html Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory Added Reference Type EEF: https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/dc1bf9344c0ce62717cf60866590cea0242780fd Types: Patch Added Reference Type EEF: https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-54pw-5645-jh86 Types: Vendor Advisory Added Reference Type EEF: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-54890 Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory Added Reference Type EEF: https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versions Types: Release Notes -
CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Jul. 27, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added SSVC {'id': 'CVE-2026-54890', 'role': 'CISA Coordinator', 'options': [{'exploitation': 'none'}, {'automatable': 'no'}, {'technicalImpact': 'partial'}], 'version': '2.0.3', 'timestamp': '2026-07-27T18:18:57.223218Z'} -
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