CVE-2026-54894: CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in ueberauth guardian
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in ueberauth guardian allows denial of service via unbounded atom creation from attacker-influenced binary input. Guardian.Plug.Keys derives connection and session namespace keys by passing arbitrary binaries to String.to_atom/1. base_key/1 in lib/guardian/plug/keys.ex converts any binary into the atom :"guardian_<input>", and the derived helpers claims_key/1, resource_key/1, and token_key/1 create a second atom on top of that. key_from_other/1 likewise converts a regex-captured binary through String.to_atom/1. The public specs advertise String.t() as a valid argument, so passing a string is documented usage, and higher-level entry points such as Guardian.Plug.current_token(conn, key: key) thread the caller-supplied key straight into these functions. String.to_atom/1 creates a brand-new atom for every previously unseen binary, atoms are never garbage collected, and the BEAM atom table is fixed at roughly 1,048,576 entries by default. An application that routes attacker-influenced data (a tenant identifier, header, or other request input) into a Guardian key therefore mints one permanent atom per distinct value. A modest stream of varied, unauthenticated input permanently consumes the atom table and crashes the BEAM node, taking down every application running on it. This issue affects guardian: from 0.1.0 before 2.4.1.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The ueberauth guardian library uses String.to_atom/1 on attacker-influenced binary input to derive connection and session keys. Since String.to_atom/1 creates a new atom for each unique input and atoms are not garbage collected, an attacker can cause unbounded atom creation by sending varied inputs. This exhausts the BEAM VM's fixed atom table (approximately 1,048,576 entries), leading to a denial of service by crashing the BEAM node and all applications running on it. The vulnerability affects guardian versions from 0.1.0 before 2.4.1.
Potential Impact
An attacker can cause a denial of service by exhausting the BEAM VM atom table through unbounded atom creation. This results in the crash of the BEAM node, taking down all applications running on it. The vulnerability requires attacker-influenced input to be passed to the vulnerable functions and does not involve privilege escalation or data disclosure.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until a fix is available, avoid passing untrusted or attacker-controlled input to functions that convert binaries to atoms. Consider using String.to_existing_atom/1 or other safe alternatives that do not create new atoms dynamically.
CVE-2026-54894: CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in ueberauth guardian
Description
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in ueberauth guardian allows denial of service via unbounded atom creation from attacker-influenced binary input. Guardian.Plug.Keys derives connection and session namespace keys by passing arbitrary binaries to String.to_atom/1. base_key/1 in lib/guardian/plug/keys.ex converts any binary into the atom :"guardian_<input>", and the derived helpers claims_key/1, resource_key/1, and token_key/1 create a second atom on top of that. key_from_other/1 likewise converts a regex-captured binary through String.to_atom/1. The public specs advertise String.t() as a valid argument, so passing a string is documented usage, and higher-level entry points such as Guardian.Plug.current_token(conn, key: key) thread the caller-supplied key straight into these functions. String.to_atom/1 creates a brand-new atom for every previously unseen binary, atoms are never garbage collected, and the BEAM atom table is fixed at roughly 1,048,576 entries by default. An application that routes attacker-influenced data (a tenant identifier, header, or other request input) into a Guardian key therefore mints one permanent atom per distinct value. A modest stream of varied, unauthenticated input permanently consumes the atom table and crashes the BEAM node, taking down every application running on it. This issue affects guardian: from 0.1.0 before 2.4.1.
CVSS v4.0
Score 6.9medium
Affected software
ueberauth
guardian
ueberauth
guardian
cpe:2.3:a:ueberauth:guardian:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*Run on your own infrastructure? Check whether these packages are installed with threat-finder — our free open-source scanner.
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The ueberauth guardian library uses String.to_atom/1 on attacker-influenced binary input to derive connection and session keys. Since String.to_atom/1 creates a new atom for each unique input and atoms are not garbage collected, an attacker can cause unbounded atom creation by sending varied inputs. This exhausts the BEAM VM's fixed atom table (approximately 1,048,576 entries), leading to a denial of service by crashing the BEAM node and all applications running on it. The vulnerability affects guardian versions from 0.1.0 before 2.4.1.
Potential Impact
An attacker can cause a denial of service by exhausting the BEAM VM atom table through unbounded atom creation. This results in the crash of the BEAM node, taking down all applications running on it. The vulnerability requires attacker-influenced input to be passed to the vulnerable functions and does not involve privilege escalation or data disclosure.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until a fix is available, avoid passing untrusted or attacker-controlled input to functions that convert binaries to atoms. Consider using String.to_existing_atom/1 or other safe alternatives that do not create new atoms dynamically.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- EEF
- Date Reserved
- 2026-06-16T10:47:13.915Z
- Cvss Version
- 4.0
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 6a6e3f8dbf32cb7a34232d1c
Added to database: 08/01/2026, 18:48:45 UTC
Last enriched: 08/09/2026, 14:18:26 UTC
Last updated: 09/15/2026, 10:01:33 UTC
Views: 63
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