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CVE-2026-65624

Cowboy HTTP/1.1 max_headers Bypass via Duplicate Header Names Enables Memory Exhaustion

6.9 MediumFix available

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1.

The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window.

The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions.

This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

Exploit likelihood

0.38%Unchanged since Jul 29, 2026
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 6.9

Cowboy HTTP/1.1 max_headers Bypass via Duplicate Header Names Enables Memory Exhaustion

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1.

The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window.

The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions.

This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Record
CVE-2026-65624
CVSS 4.0
6.9 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-770
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-49740 6.9

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1.

The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window.

The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions.

This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Record
EUVD-2026-49740
CVSS 4.0
6.9 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-v9x8-262p-f2g5 6.9

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an...

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1.

The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window.

The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions.

This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Record
GHSA-v9x8-262p-f2g5
CVSS 4.0
6.9 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Weakness
CWE-770
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 6.9

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1.

The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window.

The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions.

This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Record
CVE-2026-65624
CVSS 4.0
6.9 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Weakness
CWE-770
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 6.9

Cowboy HTTP/1.1 max_headers Bypass via Duplicate Header Names Enables Memory Exhaustion

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1.

The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window.

The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions.

This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Record
CVE-2026-65624
CVSS 4.0
6.9 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-770
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2026-65624 6.9

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1. The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window. The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions. This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-65624
CVSS 4.0
6.9 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 6 moreShow less
OSVEEF-CVE-2026-65624 6.9

Cowboy HTTP/1.1 max_headers Bypass via Duplicate Header Names Enables Memory Exhaustion

Summary

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1.

The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window.

The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions.

This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Record
EEF-CVE-2026-65624
CVSS 4.0
6.9 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-770
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2026:47231 7.5

Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update

Record
RHSA-2026:47231
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2026:47236 7.5

Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update

Record
RHSA-2026:47236
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2026:57882 7.5

Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update

Record
RHSA-2026:57882
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-65624 6.9

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1. The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window. The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions. This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-65624
CVSS 4.0
6.9 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVAZL-94308 No score

CVE-2026-65624 affecting package rabbitmq-server for versions less than 3.13.7-9

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust connection process memory over HTTP/1.1.

The HTTP/1.1 handler in cowboy_http enforces the max_headers limit by counting the number of distinct header names in a map (maps:size(Headers)). When a request contains multiple header lines with the same name, the values are concatenated into a single ever-growing binary stored under that one map key (", " for regular headers, "; " for cookies), so the map size stays at one and the max_headers cap (default 100) is never reached. Because no accumulator bounds the total number of header lines or the total byte size of the header block (only per-line max_header_name_length and max_header_value_length apply), an unauthenticated client can send an arbitrary number of header lines with the same name and grow the connection process's binary memory to arbitrary size within the request window.

The impact per connection is bounded by request_timeout (default 5 seconds, not reset by header data), and by max_heap_size when set (the offending connection process is killed once its heap grows past the limit). When max_heap_size is left at the default (unset), sustained abuse can drive the Erlang VM into out-of-memory conditions.

This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0-pre.4 before 2.18.0.

Record
AZL-94308
Updated
2026-11-05

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
rabbitmq-server
Azure Linux:3
before 3.13.7-9
3.13.7-9
erlang-cowboy
Debian:14
before 2.18.0+dfsg-1, plus listed versions
0.10.0+dfsg1-10.6.1-10.6.1-20.6.1-30.6.1-4
Show 10 moreShow less
0.8.6+dfsg-10.8.6+dfsg1-11.0.0+dfsg1-12.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-12.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-22.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-32.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-42.16.1+dfsg-12.16.1+dfsg-22.17.0+dfsg-1
2.18.0+dfsg-1
cowboy
Hex
2.0.0-pre.4 up to 2.18.0, plus listed versions
2.0.02.1.02.10.02.11.02.12.0
Show 21 moreShow less
2.13.02.14.02.14.12.14.22.15.02.16.02.16.12.17.02.2.02.2.12.2.22.3.02.4.02.5.02.6.02.6.12.6.22.6.32.7.02.8.02.9.0
2.18.0
rabbitmq-server4.3
Red Hat:hummingbird:1
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 0:4.3.4-0.2.hum1
0:4.3.4-0.2.hum1
rabbitmq-server4.2
Red Hat:hummingbird:1
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 0:4.2.9-0.2.hum1
0:4.2.9-0.2.hum1
rabbitmq-server4.3
Red Hat:hummingbird:1
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 0:4.3.5-0.1.hum1
0:4.3.5-0.1.hum1
rabbitmq-server
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
3.5.4-13.5.4-33.5.4-3.13.5.7-13.5.7-1ubuntu0.16.04.1
Show 5 moreShow less
3.5.7-1ubuntu0.16.04.23.5.7-1ubuntu0.16.04.43.5.7-1ubuntu0.16.04.4+esm13.5.7-1ubuntu0.16.04.4+esm23.5.7-1ubuntu0.16.04.4+esm3
None known
erlang-cowboy
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-1
None known
rabbitmq-server
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
3.6.10-13.6.10-1ubuntu0.13.6.10-1ubuntu0.33.6.10-1ubuntu0.43.6.10-1ubuntu0.53.6.10-1ubuntu0.5+esm1
None known
erlang-cowboy
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-2
None known
Show 10 moreShow less
Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
rabbitmq-server
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
3.7.8-4ubuntu23.7.18-13.8.2-0ubuntu13.8.2-0ubuntu1.13.8.2-0ubuntu1.2
Show 8 moreShow less
3.8.2-0ubuntu1.33.8.2-0ubuntu1.43.8.2-0ubuntu1.53.8.3-0ubuntu0.13.8.3-0ubuntu0.23.8.3-0ubuntu0.33.8.3-0ubuntu0.3+esm13.8.3-0ubuntu0.3+esm2
None known
erlang-cowboy
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-4
None known
erlang-cowboy
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-4
None known
rabbitmq-server
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
3.8.9-3ubuntu13.9.8-13.9.8-23.9.8-33.9.8-5
Show 8 moreShow less
3.9.8-63.9.13-13.9.13-1ubuntu0.22.04.13.9.13-1ubuntu0.22.04.23.9.27-0ubuntu0.13.9.27-0ubuntu0.23.9.27-0ubuntu0.53.9.27-0ubuntu0.6
None known
erlang-cowboy
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-4
None known
rabbitmq-server
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
3.12.1-13.12.1-1ubuntu13.12.1-1ubuntu1.23.12.1-1ubuntu1.43.12.1-1ubuntu1.63.12.1-1ubuntu1.7
None known
erlang-cowboy
Ubuntu:26.10
All versions, plus listed versions
2.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-4build12.18.0+dfsg-1
None known
rabbitmq-server
Ubuntu:26.10
All versions, plus listed versions
4.0.5-10ubuntu54.3.2-4ubuntu24.3.2-4ubuntu3
None known
erlang-cowboy
Ubuntu:26.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
2.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-42.0.0~pre.1+dfsg1-4build1
None known
rabbitmq-server
Ubuntu:26.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
4.0.5-8ubuntu24.0.5-10ubuntu14.0.5-10ubuntu24.0.5-10ubuntu34.0.5-10ubuntu44.0.5-10ubuntu54.0.5-10ubuntu5.14.0.5-10ubuntu5.2
None known

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected
factsOSV
aliases, publishedEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2026-65624 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.9) in Ninenines Cowboy, published July 28, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.38%, the 32nd percentile. Fixed in rabbitmq-server 3.13.7-9.

References

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