CVE-2026-7790
Unbounded chunk-size hex digits in cowlib cause quadratic CPU and memory DoS
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation.
The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification.
This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4.
This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
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
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
8.7
Unbounded chunk-size hex digits in cowlib cause quadratic CPU and memory DoS
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation.
The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification.
This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4.
This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
- Record
CVE-2026-7790- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-29200
8.7
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation.
The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification.
This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4.
This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
- Record
EUVD-2026-29200- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-32p9-57cr-4x65
8.7
cowlib cow_http_te module: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability allows Excessive Allocation
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation.
The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification.
This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4.
This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
- Record
GHSA-32p9-57cr-4x65- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
8.7
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation.
The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification.
This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4.
This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
- Record
CVE-2026-7790- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/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 - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
8.7
Unbounded chunk-size hex digits in cowlib cause quadratic CPU and memory DoS
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation.
The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification.
This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4.
This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
- Record
CVE-2026-7790- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2026-7790
7.5
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation. The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification. This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4. This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-7790- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 4 moreShow less
OSVEEF-CVE-2026-7790
8.7
Unbounded chunk-size hex digits in cowlib cause quadratic CPU and memory DoS
Summary
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation.
The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification.
This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4.
This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
Workarounds
In Cowboy, setting initial_stream_flow_size to a much lower value limits the amount of chunked body data that cowlib will parse in a single read, reducing the window of data an attacker can use to trigger the quadratic work. This does not fully eliminate the vulnerability but can significantly reduce its impact for some applications.
- Record
EEF-CVE-2026-7790- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-32p9-57cr-4x65
8.7
cowlib cow_http_te module: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability allows Excessive Allocation
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation.
The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification.
This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4.
This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
- Record
GHSA-32p9-57cr-4x65- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-7790
8.7
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation. The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification. This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4. This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-7790- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVAZL-86790 No score
CVE-2026-7790 affecting package rabbitmq-server for versions less than 3.13.7-5
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ninenines cowlib (cow_http_te module) allows Excessive Allocation.
The chunked transfer-encoding parser in cow_http_te accepts an unbounded number of hex digits in the chunk-size field. Each digit causes a bignum multiplication (Len * 16 + digit), so parsing N hex digits requires O(N²) CPU work and O(N) memory. Additionally, when input is drip-fed, the parser discards the accumulated length on each partial read and restarts from zero on resumption, raising the cost to O(N³). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending an HTTP/1.1 request with Transfer-Encoding: chunked and a very long chunk-size hex string to cause denial of service through CPU exhaustion and memory amplification.
This vulnerability is associated with program file src/cow_http_te.erl and program routines cow_http_te:stream_chunked/2, cow_http_te:chunked_len/4.
This issue affects cowlib: from 0.6.0 before 2.16.1.
- Record
AZL-86790- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
cowlibHex |
0.6.0 up to 2.16.1 | 2.16.1 |
rabbitmq-serverAzure Linux:3 |
before 3.13.7-5 | 3.13.7-5 |
erlang-cowlibDebian:12 |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-32.17.1-12.17.1-22.18.0-12.19.0-12.20.0-12.21.0-1 |
None known |
erlang-cowlibDebian:13 |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-32.17.1-12.17.1-22.18.0-12.19.0-12.20.0-12.21.0-1 |
None known |
erlang-cowlibDebian:14 |
before 2.17.1-1, plus listed versions 1.3.0-3 |
2.17.1-1 |
cowlibHex |
0.6.0 up to 2.16.1, plus listed versions 1.0.01.0.11.0.21.1.01.2.0 Show 27 moreShow less1.3.02.0.02.0.12.1.02.10.02.10.12.11.02.12.02.12.12.13.02.14.02.15.02.16.02.2.02.2.12.3.02.4.02.5.02.5.12.6.02.7.02.7.12.7.22.7.32.8.02.9.02.9.1 |
2.16.1 |
erlang-cowlibUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-1 |
None known |
erlang-cowlibUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-2 |
None known |
erlang-cowlibUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-3 |
None known |
erlang-cowlibUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-3 |
None known |
Show 4 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
erlang-cowlibUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-3 |
None known |
erlang-cowlibUbuntu:25.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-3 |
None known |
erlang-cowlibUbuntu:26.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-3build12.19.0-1 |
None known |
erlang-cowlibUbuntu:26.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-31.3.0-3build1 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| facts | OSV | |
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-7790 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.7) in Ninenines Cowlib, published May 11, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.43%, the 37th percentile. Fixed in cowlib 2.16.1.