CVE-2026-54451
Severity not reportedElixir protobuf is a pure Elixir implementation of Google Protobuf.
Elixir protobuf is a pure Elixir implementation of Google Protobuf. From 0.8.0 until 0.16.1, services that decode attacker-controlled protobuf bytes with Protobuf.Decoder can be taken offline when the schema contains a self-referential or cyclic message type. In lib/protobuf/decoder.ex, Protobuf.Decoder.value_for_field/3 handles an embedded?: true field by recursively entering the decode / build_message / handle_value / value_for_field call chain without enforcing a nesting-depth limit. Deeply nested embedded fields retain non-tail recursive frames, allowing a comparatively small request to consume substantial CPU and memory, pin a BEAM scheduler, and exhaust the node. This issue is fixed in version 0.16.1.
Affected products
Not reported by the source (unknown — not "none").
Weakness classification (CWE)
Source: NVD / CISA. “NVD-CWE-Other” and “NVD-CWE-noinfo” mean NVD could not assign a specific weakness.
Mitigation & advisories
No vendor advisory or patch reference tagged by NVD. Check the references below.
References
- https://github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/commit/352d1769a0ef575a8d18c3f9620609efdb73e2b... security-advisories@github.com
- https://github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/commit/b8efa97790eece3d2d0e8e7c31a45ed409fe533... security-advisories@github.com
- https://github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/releases/tag/v0.16.1 security-advisories@github.com
- https://github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/security/advisories/GHSA-rv48-qqj5-crxg security-advisories@github.com
- https://github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/security/advisories/GHSA-rv48-qqj5-crxg 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0