HighCVE-2026-54890

    BEAM VM crash via integer underflow in binary_to_term BIT_BINARY_EXT decoding (CVE-2026-54890)

    Published Last modified Sources: Ubuntu, Red Hat, Debian, BSI, OSV, CVE.org

    What is affected, what to do

    Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound) vulnerability in erlang otp erlang/otp (erts modules), erlang otp erts (erts modules) allows Forced Integer Overflow, Excessive Allocation. This vulnerability is associated with program files erts/emulator/beam/external.c, emulator/beam/external.c.

    Update erlang\/otp to version 27.3.4.15, erts to version 16.4.0.4, Erlang/OTP to version 28.5.0.4.

    Affected
    • Erlang OTP gte 15.0..*
    • Erlang OTP gte 27.0..*

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    8.2

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v4

    7.5

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Ubuntu, Red Hat, Debian, BSI, OSV, CVE.org

    0.4 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 36.3

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    High
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    73.19 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    8.2 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    7.5
    CVSS v4

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    8.2
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

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    0.4 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    36.3
    High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: none known · not automatable · Technical impact: partial
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 27 July 2026
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-191, CWE-789, CWE-1284

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound) vulnerability in erlang otp erlang/otp (erts modules), erlang otp erts (erts modules) allows Forced Integer Overflow, Excessive Allocation. This vulnerability is associated with program files erts/emulator/beam/external.c, emulator/beam/external.c. The BIT_BINARY_EXT tag (77) handler in the External Term Format (ETF) decoder accepts an encoding with both length and trailing-bits fields set to zero. The subsequent computation of the bitstring size underflows an unsigned integer, producing a value of roughly 2^64 that is then passed as a memory allocation size. The allocator aborts the entire node with a message such as "Cannot allocate 2305843009213693951 bytes of memory (of type binary)". The crash is a VM-level abort, not an Erlang-level exception. It cannot be intercepted by supervision trees, by try/catch, or by passing the [safe] option to binary_to_term/2 (which only restricts atom creation and does not perform structural validation of binary encodings). Any application that decodes ETF from untrusted sources via binary_to_term/1,2 or enif_binary_to_term() is exposed. The Erlang distribution protocol also decodes incoming terms through the same code path, but distribution is expected to run on trusted networks per the OTP Secure Coding Guidelines (DSG-011). This issue affects OTP from OTP 27.0 before OTP 29.0.4, OTP 28.5.0.4 and OTP 27.3.4.15, corresponding to erts from 15.0 before 17.0.4, 16.4.0.4 and 15.2.7.11.

    Source: Ubuntu Security Notices, redhat_csaf, Debian Security Advisories, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities), NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, CVE.org (MITRE)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    ErlangOTP
    • ≥ 15.0
    • ≥ 27.0
    • —
    • —
    erlangerlang\/otp
    • 27.0 – < 27.3.4.15
    • 28.0 – < 28.5.0.4
    • 29.0 – < 29.0.4
    • 27.3.4.15
    • 28.5.0.4
    • 29.0.4
    erlangerts
    • 16.0 – < 16.4.0.4
    • 15.0 – < 15.2.7.11
    • 17.0 – < 17.0.4
    • 16.4.0.4
    • 15.2.7.11
    • 17.0.4
    Open SourceErlang/OTP
    • < 28.5.0.4
    • < 27.3.4.15
    • < 29.0.4
    • 28.5.0.4
    • 27.3.4.15
    • 29.0.4

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianerlangtrixie
    Linuxubuntuerlangbionic
    Linuxubuntuerlangfocal
    Linuxubuntuerlangjammy
    Linuxubuntuerlangnoble
    Linuxubuntuerlangresolute
    Linuxubuntuerlangtrusty
    Linuxubuntuerlangxenial

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-191Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound)

      Base

      The product subtracts one value from another, such that the result is less than the minimum allowable integer value, which produces a value that is not equal to the correct result.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-191

    • CWE-789Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value

      Variant

      The product allocates memory based on an untrusted, large size value, but it does not ensure that the size is within expected limits, allowing arbitrary amounts of memory to be allocated.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-789

    • CWE-1284Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input

      Base

      The product receives input that is expected to specify a quantity (such as size or length), but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the quantity has the required properties.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-1284

    References & sources

    • github.comerlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-54pw-5645-jh86advisory, Vendor advisory, related, Vendor advisory
    • cna.erlef.orgcves/CVE-2026-54890.htmlweb, related, Patch, Third-party advisory
    • erlang.orgdoc/system/versions.htmlweb, x_version-scheme, Release notes
    • github.comerlang/otp/commit/dc1bf9344c0ce62717cf60866590cea0242780fdfix, Patch, Patch
    • OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-54890related, Patch, Third-party advisory

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Initial analysis by NVDNVD

      Newly listed as affected:
      • erlang/otp (28.0 – before 28.5.0.4; 29.0 – before 29.0.4; 27.0 – before 27.3.4.15)
      • Erlang Runtime System (ERTS) (16.0 – before 16.4.0.4; 17.0 – before 17.0.4; 15.0 – before 15.2.7.11)

      CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

      Show 7 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
      Product configurationadded
      —
      OR *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 28.0 up to (excluding) 28.5.0.4 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 29.0 up to (excluding) 29.0.4 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erts:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 16.0 up to (excluding) 16.4.0.4 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erts:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 17.0 up to (excluding) 17.0.4 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 27.0 up to (excluding) 27.3.4.15 *cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erts:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 15.0 up to (excluding) 15.2.7.11
      Reference typeadded
      —
      EEF: https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-54890.html Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory
      Reference typeadded
      —
      EEF: https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/dc1bf9344c0ce62717cf60866590cea0242780fd Types: Patch
      Reference typeadded
      —
      EEF: https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-54pw-5645-jh86 Types: Vendor Advisory
      Reference typeadded
      —
      EEF: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-54890 Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory
      Reference typeadded
      —
      EEF: https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versions Types: Release Notes

      Source identifier: nvd@nist.gov

    2. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: no

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      SSVC assessmentadded
      —
      {"id":"CVE-2026-54890","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"partial"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-07-27T18:18:57.223218Z"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    3. ReceivedEEF

      CVSS V4.0: AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

      Weakness type: CWE-191, CWE-789, CWE-1284

      Description added or changed

      Show 11 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      OTP, OTP
      Descriptionadded
      —
      Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound) vulnerability in erlang otp erlang/otp (erts modules), erlang otp erts (erts modules) allows Forced Integer Overflow, Excessive Allocation. This vulnerability is associated with program files erts/emulator/beam/external.c, emulator/beam/external.c. The BIT_BINARY_EXT tag (77) handler in the External Term Format (ETF) decoder accepts an encoding with both length and trailing-bits fields set to zero. The subsequent computation of the bitstring size underflows an unsigned integer, producing a value of roughly 2^64 that is then passed as a memory allocation size. The allocator aborts the entire node with a message such as "Cannot allocate 2305843009213693951 bytes of memory (of type binary)". The crash is a VM-level abort, not an Erlang-level exception. It cannot be intercepted by supervision trees, by try/catch, or by passing the [safe] option to binary_to_term/2 (which only restricts atom creation and does not perform structural validation of binary encodings). Any application that decodes ETF from untrusted sources via binary_to_term/1,2 or enif_binary_to_term() is exposed. The Erlang distribution protocol also decodes incoming terms through the same code path, but distribution is expected to run on trusted networks per the OTP Secure Coding Guidelines (DSG-011). This issue affects OTP from OTP 27.0 before OTP 29.0.4, OTP 28.5.0.4 and OTP 27.3.4.15, corresponding to erts from 15.0 before 17.0.4, 16.4.0.4 and 15.2.7.11.
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/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
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-191
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-789
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-1284
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-54890.html
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/dc1bf9344c0ce62717cf60866590cea0242780fd
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-54pw-5645-jh86
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-54890
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versions

      Source identifier: 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db

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