7.1
HIGH CVSS 4.0
CVE-2026-68956
SSH daemon allocates unbounded idle session channels, bypassing max_channels
Description

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssh allows an authenticated remote attacker to exhaust node memory by repeatedly opening session channels that are never assigned a handler. The "session" clause of ssh_connection:handle_msg/4 checks only minimal_remote_max_packet_size before calling setup_session/5, which unconditionally builds a #channel{} record and stores it in the ETS channel cache. The max_channels daemon option is consulted only by ssh_channel_sup:max_num_channels_not_exceeded/2, which counts supervisor children, so a channel that never gets a shell, exec, or subsystem handler is invisible to the limit and setting the option to a finite value does not mitigate the attack. RFC 4254 section 5.1 permits many session channels per connection, and each record costs only a few hundred bytes, so a single authenticated connection can accumulate channels until the node runs out of memory and the emulator terminates, affecting every application on it. No file contents, credentials, or write access are obtainable. This issue affects OTP from OTP 18.1.2 before OTP 27.3.4.18, OTP 28.5.0.7, and OTP 29.1.1, corresponding to ssh from 4.1.1 before 5.2.11.13, 5.5.2.6, and 6.0.6. Whether OTP before OTP 18.1.2, corresponding to ssh before 4.1.1, is affected is unknown.

INFO

Published Date :

Sept. 22, 2026, 9:17 a.m.

Last Modified :

Sept. 22, 2026, 11:17 a.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !

Source :

6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-68956 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.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Erlang erlang\/otp
2 Erlang otp
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
CVSS 4.0 HIGH 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
CVSS 4.0 HIGH 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
Solution
Update Erlang/OTP ssh to a patched version to prevent memory exhaustion.
  • Update Erlang/OTP ssh to a version with the fix.
  • Verify session channel handling logic.
  • Monitor system memory usage.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-68956 is associated with the following CWEs:

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-2026-68956 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-68956 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 Modified by 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db

    Sep. 22, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Changed Description Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssh allows an authenticated remote attacker to exhaust node memory by repeatedly opening session channels that are never assigned a handler. The "session" clause of ssh_connection:handle_msg/4 checks only minimal_remote_max_packet_size before calling setup_session/5, which unconditionally builds a #channel{} record and stores it in the ETS channel cache. The max_channels daemon option is consulted only by ssh_channel_sup:max_num_channels_not_exceeded/2, which counts supervisor children, so a channel that never gets a shell, exec, or subsystem handler is invisible to the limit and setting the option to a finite value does not mitigate the attack. RFC 4254 section 5.1 permits many session channels per connection, and each record costs only a few hundred bytes, so a single authenticated connection can accumulate channels until the node runs out of memory and the emulator terminates, affecting every application on it. No file contents, credentials, or write access are obtainable. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 27.3.4.18, OTP 28.5.0.7, and OTP 29.1.1, corresponding to ssh from 3.0.1 before 5.2.11.13, 5.5.2.6, and 6.0.6. Whether OTP before OTP 17.0, corresponding to ssh before 3.0.1, is affected is unknown. Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssh allows an authenticated remote attacker to exhaust node memory by repeatedly opening session channels that are never assigned a handler. The "session" clause of ssh_connection:handle_msg/4 checks only minimal_remote_max_packet_size before calling setup_session/5, which unconditionally builds a #channel{} record and stores it in the ETS channel cache. The max_channels daemon option is consulted only by ssh_channel_sup:max_num_channels_not_exceeded/2, which counts supervisor children, so a channel that never gets a shell, exec, or subsystem handler is invisible to the limit and setting the option to a finite value does not mitigate the attack. RFC 4254 section 5.1 permits many session channels per connection, and each record costs only a few hundred bytes, so a single authenticated connection can accumulate channels until the node runs out of memory and the emulator terminates, affecting every application on it. No file contents, credentials, or write access are obtainable. This issue affects OTP from OTP 18.1.2 before OTP 27.3.4.18, OTP 28.5.0.7, and OTP 29.1.1, corresponding to ssh from 4.1.1 before 5.2.11.13, 5.5.2.6, and 6.0.6. Whether OTP before OTP 18.1.2, corresponding to ssh before 4.1.1, is affected is unknown.
    Added Affected Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/68xxx/CVE-2026-68956.json">CVE-2026-68956</a>
    Added Reference https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/84df3d4d0278e21a36a453bfee94799f0df67c2a
  • CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    Sep. 22, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added SSVC {'id': 'CVE-2026-68956', 'role': 'CISA Coordinator', 'options': [{'exploitation': 'none'}, {'automatable': 'no'}, {'technicalImpact': 'partial'}], 'version': '2.0.3', 'timestamp': '2026-09-22T10:12:21.867151Z'}
  • New CVE Received by 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db

    Sep. 22, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssh allows an authenticated remote attacker to exhaust node memory by repeatedly opening session channels that are never assigned a handler. The "session" clause of ssh_connection:handle_msg/4 checks only minimal_remote_max_packet_size before calling setup_session/5, which unconditionally builds a #channel{} record and stores it in the ETS channel cache. The max_channels daemon option is consulted only by ssh_channel_sup:max_num_channels_not_exceeded/2, which counts supervisor children, so a channel that never gets a shell, exec, or subsystem handler is invisible to the limit and setting the option to a finite value does not mitigate the attack. RFC 4254 section 5.1 permits many session channels per connection, and each record costs only a few hundred bytes, so a single authenticated connection can accumulate channels until the node runs out of memory and the emulator terminates, affecting every application on it. No file contents, credentials, or write access are obtainable. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 27.3.4.18, OTP 28.5.0.7, and OTP 29.1.1, corresponding to ssh from 3.0.1 before 5.2.11.13, 5.5.2.6, and 6.0.6. Whether OTP before OTP 17.0, corresponding to ssh before 3.0.1, is affected is unknown.
    Added CVSS V4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/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-770
    Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/68xxx/CVE-2026-68956.json">CVE-2026-68956</a>
    Added Reference https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-68956.html
    Added Reference https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/79c2d2be17d902c5f53969b5806b725efda831be
    Added Reference https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/e18100975f0e5a8d59d02de00df12247a91b443b
    Added Reference https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/e2bbad0107bba41491a4d549686fd023db8740da
    Added Reference https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-qhcm-px9c-rvfh
    Added Reference https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-68956
    Added Reference https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versions
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.