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Vulnerability record/PUBLISHED/Published Nov 13, 2026 16:18:37 UTC

CVE-2026-121809

Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') vulnerability in elixir-grpc grpc_server and grpc allows unauthenticated attackers to occupy a BEAM scheduler indefinitely via a client-streaming or bidirectional-streaming request whose body ends inside a gRPC message. GRPC.Server.Adapters.Cowboy.read_stream/1 (grpc_server/lib/grpc/server/adapters/cowboy.ex, and the Cowboy adapter in grpc before the package split) asks for more data whenever the buffer does not hold a complete message. Once the request body has ended, every further read returns an empty chunk, so the buffer never changes and the function retries without end. A single 5-byte length prefix sent with END_STREAM keeps one scheduler busy for as long as the connection stays open, and repeated requests exhaust all schedulers. This issue affects grpc_server: from 1.0.0 before 1.1.0; grpc: from 0.3.1 before 1.0.0.

Base score8.2/ 10
SeverityHighCVSS 4.0

Exploitability / impact

CVSS metric breakdown

Vector-derived attributes
Base severityHigh
Attack vectorNetworkAV
Attack complexityLowAC
Attack requirementsPresentAT
Privileges requiredNonePR
User interactionNoneUI
Vulnerable system confidentialityNoneVC
Vulnerable system integrityNoneVI
Vulnerable system availabilityHighVA
Subsequent system confidentialityNoneSC
Subsequent system integrityNoneSI
Subsequent system availabilityNoneSA
CVSS vector stringCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS communicates standardized severity and impact characteristics. It does not establish whether a system is exploitable in your specific environment.

Record context

CVE Numbering AuthorityEEF
Last updatedNov 13, 2026 19:32:40 UTC
PublishedNov 13, 2026 16:18:37 UTC
ReservedNov 13, 2026 11:19:13 UTC

Credits

  • Adam Jordan
  • Adam Jordan
  • Marko Vejnovic
  • Paulo Valente
  • Peter Ullrich
  • Jonatan Männchen / EEF