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Fencer Intel
high 8.7

CVE-2026-70399 json

httpd does not enforce the documented default max_clients connection limit

published 2mo ago modified 13h ago also EUVD-2026-69223 , GHSA-pwvh-c689-f8q5

Unreviewed: the maintainers' own advisory

Published by the maintainers on their GitHub repository erlang/otp. GitHub has not reviewed it into the GitHub Advisory Database, so the affected packages and versions are the maintainers' word. Read the full advisory on GitHub.

cvss
8.7
version 4.0, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.9%
EPSS 0.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 60%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in Erlang/OTP inets httpd allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to cause denial of service by opening and holding open a large number of connections. The max_clients option is documented to default to 150, and the inets hardening guide presents that limit as the first layer of denial-of-service defence, but a server that does not set it explicitly accepts an unlimited number of simultaneous connections. Establishing the connections is sufficient; no valid request and no authentication are required.

The accept gate in httpd_manager:handle_new_connection/4 reads the option with httpd_util:lookup/2, which returns undefined when the key is absent, rather than the three-argument form carrying the 150 default that the neighbouring get_ustate/2 uses. Erlang term ordering places every integer before every atom, so the Count =< Max guard holds for any connection count and the server never returns {reject, busy}. Each accepted connection occupies a worker process and a socket for as long as it is held, driving the node towards process, memory and file descriptor exhaustion. Servers that set max_clients explicitly are unaffected, because a configured value is applied as intended.

This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 27.3.4.17, OTP 28.5.0.6, and OTP 29.0.6, corresponding to inets from 5.10 before 9.3.2.7, 9.6.2.3, and 9.7.2.

Patch / fix

  • Erlang OTP 9.3.2.7, 9.6.2.3, 9.7.2, 27.3.4.17, 28.5.0.6, 29.0.6
  • erlang Debian 13 1:27.3.4.1+dfsg-1+deb13u4
  • erlang Debian 14 1:29.0.6+dfsg-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-70399

  • erlang Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 1:24.2.1+dfsg-1ubuntu0.7
  • erlang Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 1:25.3.2.8+dfsg-1ubuntu4.7
  • erlang Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1
  • erlang Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 1:18.3-dfsg-1ubuntu3.1+esm3
  • erlang Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS 1:20.2.2+dfsg-1ubuntu2+esm3
  • erlang Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS 1:22.2.7+dfsg-1ubuntu0.5+esm2

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-70399

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • erlang27 hummingbird 1 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1
  • erlang27-et hummingbird 1 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1
  • erlang27-wx hummingbird 1 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1
  • erlang27-ftp hummingbird 1 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1
  • erlang27-ssh hummingbird 1 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1
  • erlang27-ssl hummingbird 1 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1
  • erlang27-asn1 hummingbird 1 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1
  • erlang27-edoc hummingbird 1 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1

red hat advisories RHSA-2026:62531

  • erlang Azure Linux 3.0 26.2.5.21-6

azure linux advisories AZL-98469

Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT

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Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-70399 updated cvss 7.5

inets: inets: Denial of Service via unenforced connection limit

  • Red Hat Hardened Images erlang27 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1, erlang27-et 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1, erlang27-wx 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1, erlang27-ftp 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1, erlang27-ssh 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1, erlang27-ssl 27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1, +33 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:62531

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
2mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.93% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 60% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 4.0 8.7 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA 4.0 8.7 CVSS: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

Affected products

  • Erlang OTP

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

The maintainers of erlang/otp published their own advisory on GitHub. Reviewed sources take precedence over it.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.