Plug cowboy: Plug.Cowboy vulnerable to unauthenticated remote DoS via HTTP/2 `:scheme` atom-table exhaustion
Affects plug_cowboySource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.7 High : upgrade to 2.8.1 soon.
Data as of 27 Oct 2026, 01:51 UTC
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 2.8.1
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 27 Apr 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
Upgrade plug_cowboy to 2.8.1.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Hexplug_cowboy | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
AI-suggested
Users should update plug_cowboy to version 2.8.1 or later to mitigate this vulnerability. If HTTP/2 endpoints are exposed directly, applying this update is critical. Use of proxies that downgrade HTTP/2 to HTTP/1.1 internally may reduce exposure, but patching is the recommended and definitive mitigation.
Description
Plug.Cowboy versions from 2.0.0 up to but not including 2.8.1 are vulnerable to an unauthenticated remote denial-of-service attack via HTTP/2. An attacker can exhaust the Erlang VM's atom table by sending crafted HTTP/2 requests, causing the entire VM to crash. This affects applications using Plug.Cowboy with HTTP/2 enabled, including Phoenix applications if they expose HTTP/2 endpoints directly without a proxy or with certain proxy configurations. The vulnerability is fixed in version 2.8.1.
References
- github.com/elixir-plug/plug_cowboy/security/advisories/GHSA-q8x4-x7mp-5vg2 (opens in a new tab)
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32688 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/elixir-plug/plug_cowboy/commit/bfb34cb45eb354e56437f7023fb306de1bf9c19b (opens in a new tab)
- cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-32688.html (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/elixir-plug/plug_cowboy (opens in a new tab)
- osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-32688 (opens in a new tab)