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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-96596: erlang rebar3 · Infinite Loop

Affects erlang rebar3Source CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.9 Medium : upgrade to 3.28.0 when convenient.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
5.9Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Thin evidence

One scorer or none
CVSS scores by source
CNA (EEF)CVSS 4.05.9
EPSS
0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 11% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 3.28.0, 310e2ec8c7dd3df05d67af2b7fae23f30fc523c4, 0.20.1 +5
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

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 14 Oct 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
erlangrebar3Affected
  • >=3.27.1 <3.28.0
Fixed in
  • 3.28.0
rebar3erlang/rebar3Affected
  • ≥ 23dbdb5d1f87f56902aef296c88a20049cd0c6e4, < 310e2ec8c7dd3df05d67af2b7fae23f30fc523c4
Fixed in
  • 310e2ec8c7dd3df05d67af2b7fae23f30fc523c4
hexpmhex_coreAffected
  • >=0.14.0 <0.20.1
Fixed in
  • 0.20.1
hex_corehexpm/hex_coreAffected
  • ≥ 13bb9fbba418a406af614790b8d5cd458259ee70, < a2ece683e6e88a3ec95ad20b09aca426e08b372e
Fixed in
  • a2ece683e6e88a3ec95ad20b09aca426e08b372e
OTPotpAffected
  • >=29.0 <29.1.2
Fixed in
  • 29.1.2
OTPstdlibAffected
  • >=8.0 <8.1.1
Fixed in
  • 8.1.1

CPE configurations (4)

  • cpe:2.3:a:erlang:rebar3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:hexpm:hex_core:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:hexpm:hex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Fixes are available in OTP starting from version 29.1.2, rebar3 from 3.28.0, stdlib from 8.1.1, hex from 2.5.3, and hex_core from 0.20.1. Users should upgrade to these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability. The {max_size, N} option can mitigate the issue only if N is set below the real size of the tar member, but this is not a complete fix. Extraction with the memory option is not affected. Patch status is confirmed by the version ranges provided; users should consult vendor advisories for official updates.

Description

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.

References

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