erlang otp up to 27.2.3 memory allocation

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in erlang otp up to 27.2.3 and classified as problematic. This affects an unknown function. This manipulation causes memory allocation. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2025-26618. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in erlang otp up to 27.2.3. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown part. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory allocation vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-789. The product allocates memory based on an untrusted, large size value, but it does not ensure that the size is within expected limits, allowing arbitrary amounts of memory to be allocated. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

Erlang is a programming language and runtime system for building massively scalable soft real-time systems with requirements on high availability. OTP is a set of Erlang libraries, which consists of the Erlang runtime system, a number of ready-to-use components mainly written in Erlang. Packet size is not verified properly for SFTP packets. As a result when multiple SSH packets (conforming to max SSH packet size) are received by ssh, they might be combined into an SFTP packet which will exceed the max allowed packet size and potentially cause large amount of memory to be allocated. Note that situation described above can only happen for successfully authenticated users after completing the SSH handshake. This issue has been patched in OTP versions 27.2.4, 26.2.5.9, and 25.3.2.18. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-26618 since 02/12/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. The attack can be launched remotely. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 231974 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-26618), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 25.3.2.18, 26.2.5.9 or 27.2.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 0ed2573cbd55c92e9125c9dc70fa1ca7fed82872 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (231974). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• erlang

Name

• otp

Version

• 27.2.0
• 27.2.1
• 27.2.2
• 27.2.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://github.com/erlang/otp/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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