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CVE-2026-96596

MEDIUM 5.9

Published 2026-10-14 · Last modified 2026-10-22

Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') vulnerability in Erlang OTP stdlib (erl_tar module), hexpm hex_core (hex_erl_tar module), hexpm hex (mix_hex_erl_tar module) and erlang rebar3 (r3_hex_erl_tar module) allows an attacker who supplies a tar archive to cause a denial of service via a crafted GNU sparse member. When erl_tar:extract/1,2 writes a member to disk, erl_tar:stream_to_file_loop/3 reads it in chunks of 65536 bytes by default. For a GNU sparse member whose sparse map ends before its real size, erl_tar:do_sparse_read/3 matches its trailing-hole clause before its zero-length clause. After the chunk is used up, the trailing-hole clause reads zero bytes, does not advance the position, and recurses forever. A 2048-byte archive keeps the extracting process and one scheduler busy until the process is killed. The {max_size, N} option prevents this only when N is below the real size of the member. Extraction with the memory option is not affected. hex_core ships its own copy of erl_tar as hex_erl_tar, and Hex and rebar3 ship hex_core with prefixed module names (mix_hex_erl_tar and r3_hex_erl_tar). These copies contain the same code and do not call stdlib's erl_tar, so they are affected on any OTP version. OTP 28 is not affected, but an application running on OTP 28 is affected if it extracts archives through an affected version of hex_core, Hex or rebar3. This issue affects OTP from OTP 29.0 before OTP 29.1.2, corresponding to rebar3 from 3.27.1 before 3.28.0, and stdlib from 8.0 before 8.1.1, and hex from 2.4.2 before 2.5.3; hex_core: from 0.14.0 before 0.20.1.

NO EXPLOITATION SIGNALS

No known exploitation, public exploit, or elevated probability at this time. Track for changes.

Exploitation likelihood

0.2%chance of exploitation in 30 days · 11th percentile

○ In CISA KEV ○ Catalogued PoC

Impact if exploited

5.9CVSS 4.0 · MEDIUM

  • ConfidentialityNone
  • IntegrityNone
  • AvailabilityHigh

What an attacker needs

  • ⚠Access: Requires local access to the host
  • ✓Privileges: No account or privileges required
  • ✓User interaction: No user interaction needed
  • ✓Complexity: No special conditions — reliably repeatable
  • ⚠Requirements: Specific conditions must be present

✓ lowers the bar for an attacker · ⚠ raises it

Proof of concept

No public PoC is currently catalogued.

Search for new PoCs

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Data snapshot:

Affected

Vendors Erlang Hexpm

Products Rebar3 Hex Core Otp Hex

Weakness (CWE)

  • CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

References and research data (JSON)

Vendor product assessments

  • erlang27.src as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images · known not affected

    Vendor assessment for this product only.

    Reason: vulnerable code not present

    pkg:rpm/redhat/[email protected]?arch=src

    Red Hat · CVE-2026-96596 · Updated 2026-10-15T14:40:25+00:00

All CVSS metrics

  • MEDIUM 5.9 v4.0 · CNA Primary
    CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
  • MEDIUM 5.9 v4.0 · NVD Secondary
    CVSS:4.0/AV:L/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

References

Patches & mitigations

Advisories

Technical & other

Sources: NVD · CVE.org · EPSS