CVE-2026-55734
guardian atom exhaustion in Guardian.Permissions.encode_permissions!/1
Description
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ueberauth guardian (Guardian.Permissions module) allows a denial of service via BEAM atom-table exhaustion. This vulnerability is associated with program file lib/guardian/permissions.ex and program routines 'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':encode_permissions!/1, 'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':encode_permissions_into_claims!/2, 'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':do_encode_permissions!/2. The Guardian.Permissions mixin installs a public encode_permissions!/1 function on every module that does use Guardian.Permissions. For each key of the supplied map, encode_permissions!/1 calls String.to_atom(to_string(k)) before any validation runs. The integer-value clause of do_encode_permissions!/2 then short-circuits straight to encoding without validating the key against the configured permission set, so a key with an integer value is interned as a fresh atom with no exception raised. Atoms are never garbage collected and the BEAM atom table is a fixed-size resource (default roughly 1,048,576 entries), so each unique attacker-chosen key permanently consumes one slot. An attacker who can influence a permission map that reaches encode_permissions!/1 (for example a permissions map read from a request body and passed into token issuance via encode_permissions_into_claims!/2) can mint an unbounded number of atoms and exhaust the atom table, crashing the entire BEAM node and every service running on it. The sibling decode_permissions/1 is not affected because it skips keys absent from the configured permission set. This issue affects guardian: from 2.0.0 before 2.4.1.
INFO
Published Date :
Aug. 1, 2026, 7:16 p.m.
Last Modified :
Oct. 23, 2026, 10:10 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
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 | MEDIUM | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | MEDIUM | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db |
Solution
- Update the guardian library to a patched version.
- Ensure all permission keys are validated before encoding.
- Limit or sanitize user-controlled input for permissions.
- Monitor atom table usage in production.
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-2026-55734.
| URL | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-55734.html | Third Party Advisory |
| https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/commit/8d4efbfc352d30f5fcfc75a4d69a795b0e472724 | Patch |
| https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/security/advisories/GHSA-9qx2-v587-q3gg | Exploit Patch Vendor Advisory |
| https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-55734 | Third Party Advisory |
| https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/security/advisories/GHSA-9qx2-v587-q3gg | Exploit Patch Vendor Advisory |
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-55734 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-2026-55734
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-2026-55734 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-55734 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. 23, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Translation Title: guardian de ueberauth, Description: La vulnerabilidad de asignación de recursos sin límites ni limitación en ueberauth guardian (módulo Guardian.Permissions) permite una denegación de servicio a través del agotamiento de la tabla de átomos de BEAM. Esta vulnerabilidad está asociada con el archivo de programa lib/guardian/permissions.ex y las rutinas de programa ’Elixir.Guardian.Permissions’:encode_permissions!/1, ’Elixir.Guardian.Permissions’:encode_permissions_into_claims!/2, ’Elixir.Guardian.Permissions’:do_encode_permissions!/2. El mixin Guardian.Permissions instala una función pública encode_permissions!/1 en cada módulo que utiliza Guardian.Permissions. Para cada clave del mapa proporcionado, encode_permissions!/1 llama a String.to_atom(to_string(k)) antes de que se ejecute cualquier validación. La cláusula de valor entero de do_encode_permissions!/2 entonces hace un cortocircuito directamente a la codificación sin validar la clave contra el conjunto de permisos configurado, por lo que una clave con un valor entero se interna como un átomo nuevo sin que se genere ninguna excepción. Los átomos nunca son recolectados por el recolector de basura y la tabla de átomos de BEAM es un recurso de tamaño fijo (por defecto, aproximadamente 1.048.576 entradas), por lo que cada clave única elegida por el atacante consume permanentemente una ranura. Un atacante que puede influir en un mapa de permisos que llega a encode_permissions!/1 (por ejemplo, un mapa de permisos leído de un cuerpo de solicitud y pasado a la emisión de tokens a través de encode_permissions_into_claims!/2) puede acuñar un número ilimitado de átomos y agotar la tabla de átomos, colapsando todo el nodo BEAM y cada servicio que se ejecuta en él. El hermano decode_permissions/1 no se ve afectado porque omite las claves ausentes del conjunto de permisos configurado. Este problema afecta a guardian: desde 2.0.0 antes de 2.4.1. -
Initial Analysis by [email protected]
Aug. 06, 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:ueberauth:guardian:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 2.0.0 up to (excluding) 2.4.1 Added Reference Type CISA-ADP: https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/security/advisories/GHSA-9qx2-v587-q3gg Types: Exploit, Patch, Vendor Advisory Added Reference Type EEF: https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-55734.html Types: Third Party Advisory Added Reference Type EEF: https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/commit/8d4efbfc352d30f5fcfc75a4d69a795b0e472724 Types: Patch Added Reference Type EEF: https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/security/advisories/GHSA-9qx2-v587-q3gg Types: Exploit, Patch, Vendor Advisory Added Reference Type EEF: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-55734 Types: Third Party Advisory -
CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Aug. 03, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Reference https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/security/advisories/GHSA-9qx2-v587-q3gg Added SSVC {'id': 'CVE-2026-55734', 'role': 'CISA Coordinator', 'options': [{'exploitation': 'poc'}, {'automatable': 'no'}, {'technicalImpact': 'partial'}], 'version': '2.0.3', 'timestamp': '2026-08-03T16:49:36.457207Z'} -
New CVE Received by 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
Aug. 01, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:ueberauth:guardian:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian', 'vendor': 'ueberauth', 'modules': ["'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions'"], 'product': 'guardian', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '2.0.0', 'lessThan': '2.4.1', 'versionType': 'semver'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:hex/guardian', 'packageName': 'guardian', 'programFiles': ['lib/guardian/permissions.ex'], 'collectionURL': 'https://repo.hex.pm', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': "'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':encode_permissions!/1"}, {'name': "'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':encode_permissions_into_claims!/2"}, {'name': "'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':do_encode_permissions!/2"}]}, {'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:ueberauth:guardian:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian', 'vendor': 'ueberauth', 'modules': ["'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions'"], 'product': 'guardian', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': 'b7a6128ca4d0ffb7f7df5219dd982304ff9d6802', 'lessThan': '8d4efbfc352d30f5fcfc75a4d69a795b0e472724', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:github/ueberauth/guardian', 'packageName': 'ueberauth/guardian', 'programFiles': ['lib/guardian/permissions.ex'], 'collectionURL': 'https://github.com', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': "'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':encode_permissions!/1"}, {'name': "'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':encode_permissions_into_claims!/2"}, {'name': "'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':do_encode_permissions!/2"}]}] Added Description Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ueberauth guardian (Guardian.Permissions module) allows a denial of service via BEAM atom-table exhaustion. This vulnerability is associated with program file lib/guardian/permissions.ex and program routines 'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':encode_permissions!/1, 'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':encode_permissions_into_claims!/2, 'Elixir.Guardian.Permissions':do_encode_permissions!/2. The Guardian.Permissions mixin installs a public encode_permissions!/1 function on every module that does use Guardian.Permissions. For each key of the supplied map, encode_permissions!/1 calls String.to_atom(to_string(k)) before any validation runs. The integer-value clause of do_encode_permissions!/2 then short-circuits straight to encoding without validating the key against the configured permission set, so a key with an integer value is interned as a fresh atom with no exception raised. Atoms are never garbage collected and the BEAM atom table is a fixed-size resource (default roughly 1,048,576 entries), so each unique attacker-chosen key permanently consumes one slot. An attacker who can influence a permission map that reaches encode_permissions!/1 (for example a permissions map read from a request body and passed into token issuance via encode_permissions_into_claims!/2) can mint an unbounded number of atoms and exhaust the atom table, crashing the entire BEAM node and every service running on it. The sibling decode_permissions/1 is not affected because it skips keys absent from the configured permission set. This issue affects guardian: from 2.0.0 before 2.4.1. Added CVSS V4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H/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-770 Added Reference https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-55734.html Added Reference https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/commit/8d4efbfc352d30f5fcfc75a4d69a795b0e472724 Added Reference https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/security/advisories/GHSA-9qx2-v587-q3gg Added Reference https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-55734