CVE-2026-55737
highpriority · track · 30EPSS 0.003 · 21 %ileDEEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-28
Signed to Unsigned Conversion Error and Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in Erlang OTP erts allows an attacker who can supply a crafted Erlang external term format (ETF) binary to binary_to_term/1 to corrupt the BEAM heap pointer and crash the virtual machine. When decoding a LARGE_TUPLE_EXT term, the validation pass decoded_size() in erts/emulator/beam/external.c reads the 32-bit arity field as unsigned (get_uint32()), while the decode pass dec_term() reads the same field as a signed 32-bit integer (get_int32()) into an int. An arity wire value of 0x80000000 passes validation as 2147483648 but decodes as -2147483648, so the subsequent hp += n moves the heap allocation pointer backward. Neither pass enforces the runtime tuple-arity limit MAX_ARITYVAL. The result is an out-of-bounds heap write; in practice the VM detects an impossible heap size and aborts, denying service. The required padding is large when uncompressed but the compressed-ETF envelope shrinks it to a small payload on the wire. This issue affects OTP from OTP 25.0 before OTP 29.0.4, OTP 28.5.0.4 and OTP 27.3.4.15, corresponding to erts from 13.0 before 17.0.4, 16.4.0.4 and 15.2.7.11.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · low–high · 1.2–7.5
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (18)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (2)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- WID-SEC-W-2026-2533Erlang/OTP: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-07-27csaf · cert_bundDE
Ein entfernter, anonymer Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Erlang/OTP ausnutzen, um einen Denial of Service Angriff durchzuführen, beliebigen Code auszuführen, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen sowie Daten zu manipulieren oder offenzulegen.
- EEF-CVE-2026-55737Heap pointer corruption via signed/unsigned mismatch in LARGE_TUPLE_EXT decoding in erts external term format decoder2026-07-27vendor · osvUS
## Summary Signed to Unsigned Conversion Error and Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in Erlang OTP erts allows an attacker who can supply a crafted Erlang external term format (ETF) binary to binary\_to\_term/1 to corrupt the BEAM heap pointer and crash the virtual machine. When decoding a LARGE\_TUPLE\_EXT term, the validation pass decoded\_size() in erts/emulator/beam/external.c reads the 32-bit arity field as unsigned (get\_uint32()), while the decode pass dec\_term() reads the same field as a signed 32-bit integer (get\_int32()) into an int. An arity wire value of 0x80000000 passes validation as 2147483648 but decodes as -2147483648, so the subsequent hp += n moves the heap allocation pointer backward. Neither pass enforces the runtime tuple-arity limit MAX\_ARITYVAL. The result is an out-of-bounds heap write; in practice the VM detects an impossible heap size and aborts, denying service. The required padding is large when uncompressed but the compressed-ETF envelope shrinks it to a small payload on the wire. This issue affects OTP from OTP 25.0 before OTP 29.0.4, OTP 28.5.0.4 and OTP 27.3.4.15, corresponding to erts from 13.0 before 17.0.4, 16.4.0.4 and 15.2.7.11.
also known as (3)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (16)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-55737.htmlcnnvd
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/c5210b42a9d3d96f3d25601942ce8122be0f3761cnnvd
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/releasesPatchcnnvd
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-446w-268v-9462cnnvd
- https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-55737cnnvd
- https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versionscnnvd
- https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-55737.htmlenisa_euvd
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/c5210b42a9d3d96f3d25601942ce8122be0f3761enisa_euvd
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