CVE catalog

CVE-2026-7790

Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation. The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number o

[CVE catalog]

Severity
High · CVSS 8.7CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/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
Published
Source
[NVD] · [CVE record]
EPSS
0.43% · Oct 25, 2026

Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation. The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification. This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4. This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.

Vulnerable and fixed packages

Distribution-reported package versions and fixes. These do not depend on matching against the OpenFactory package catalog.

DistributionPackageReleaseVersionStatus
Debianerlang-cowlibsid2.21.0-1fixed
Debianerlang-cowlibforky2.21.0-1fixed
Debianerlang-cowlibtrixie1.3.0-3vulnerable
Debianerlang-cowlibbookworm1.3.0-3vulnerable
Cpeerlang-cowlibNot reportedNot reportedvulnerable
CpecowlibNot reported2.16.1fixed
CpecowlibNot reported2.16.1fixed

Fixed-version evidence

DistributionPackageTypeReleaseFixed versionUrgencyOriginBugs
Debianerlang-cowlibsourcesid2.17.1-1not yet assignedNot reported[1136446]
Debianerlang-cowlibsourceforky2.17.1-1not yet assignedNot reported[1136446]
Debianerlang-cowlibsourcetrixie(unfixed)not yet assignedNot reported[1136446]
Debianerlang-cowlibsourcebookworm(unfixed)not yet assignedNot reported[1136446]
CpecowlibcpeNot reported2.16.1Not reportedNot reportedNot reported
CpecowlibcpeNot reported2.16.1Not reportedNVD-CVE-2026-7790Not reported

[Debian bug #1136446]

Notes

[trixie] erlang-cowlib: Minor issue [bookworm] erlang-cowlib: Minor issue

OpenFactory catalog packages

[Debian 12 (Bookworm)]

  • [erlang-cowlib]Affected
    Details (2)
    • 1.3.0-3 · arm64 · bookworm

      Affected

      nvd · erlang-cowlib · debian · bookworm; nvd · erlang-cowlib · debian · 12

    • 1.3.0-3+b1 · amd64 · bookworm

      Affected

      nvd · erlang-cowlib · debian · bookworm; nvd · erlang-cowlib · debian · 12

[Debian 13 (Trixie)]

  • [erlang-cowlib]Affected

    Source package: [erlang-cowlib]

    Details (2)
    • 1.3.0-3+b1 · arm64 · trixie

      Affected

      nvd · erlang-cowlib · debian · 13

    • 1.3.0-3+b2 · amd64 · trixie

      Affected

      nvd · erlang-cowlib · debian · 13

Observed:

References