erlang · Infinite Loop
Affects erlangSource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.9 Medium.
Data as of 28 Oct 2026, 22:28 UTC
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 14 Oct 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by 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 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 26.10erlangpkg:deb/ubuntu/erlang?arch=source&distro=stonkingOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.10erlang-hexpkg:deb/ubuntu/erlang-hex?arch=source&distro=stonkingOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSerlangpkg:deb/ubuntu/erlang?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSerlang-hexpkg:deb/ubuntu/erlang-hex?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSerlangpkg:deb/ubuntu/erlang?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSerlang-hexpkg:deb/ubuntu/erlang-hex?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
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
- ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-96596 (opens in a new tab)
- cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-96596 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-phm5-m6cj-5382 (opens in a new tab)
- cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-96596.html (opens in a new tab)
- osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-96596 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/erlang/otp/commit/3086307f311b78b38644a7787a3aca6a3f95a9d5 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/erlang/otp/commit/fbf2c7194f6fce4b7b66dc0bcaa4f6b4b85e088f (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/erlang/rebar3/commit/23dbdb5d1f87f56902aef296c88a20049cd0c6e4 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/hexpm/hex/commit/5543a1919c709d8eb2b317f62aad76ca1eed375c (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/hexpm/hex/commit/7847c23d09ab52113614c3718e1e7d368743da5d (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/hexpm/hex/commit/8e1067131a13949eff30623f31648a945ffd5418 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/hexpm/hex_core/commit/13bb9fbba418a406af614790b8d5cd458259ee70 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/hexpm/hex_core/commit/a2ece683e6e88a3ec95ad20b09aca426e08b372e (opens in a new tab)
- erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html (opens in a new tab)