CVE-2026-8469

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in phenixdigital phoenix_storybook allows unauthenticated denial-of-service via BEAM atom table exhaustion.

Multiple LiveView event handlers convert user-supplied event parameter strings to atoms using String.to_atom/1 without validation: 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_set_variation_assign/3 interns every key of the psb-assign params map; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_toggle_variation_assign/3 interns the "attr" value from psb-toggle events; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_variation_id/2 interns elements of "variation_id"; and 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_value/4 interns raw string values for attributes declared as :atom or :boolean. BEAM atoms are never garbage-collected, so each unique attacker-controlled string is a permanent allocation. Once the atom table ceiling (~1,048,576 atoms) is reached, the entire BEAM node aborts, taking down all applications running on it.

This issue affects phoenix_storybook from 0.2.0 before 1.1.0.

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in phenixdigital phoenix_storybook allows unauthenticated denial-of-service via BEAM atom table exhaustion.

Multiple LiveView event handlers convert user-supplied event parameter strings to atoms using String.to_atom/1 without validation: 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_set_variation_assign/3 interns every key of the psb-assign params map; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_toggle_variation_assign/3 interns the "attr" value from psb-toggle events; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_variation_id/2 interns elements of "variation_id"; and 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_value/4 interns raw string values for attributes declared as :atom or :boolean. BEAM atoms are never garbage-collected, so each unique attacker-controlled string is a permanent allocation. Once the atom table ceiling (~1,048,576 atoms) is reached, the entire BEAM node aborts, taking down all applications running on it.

This issue affects phoenix_storybook from 0.2.0 before 1.1.0.

Summary

An attacker who can deliver psb-assign, psb-toggle, psb-set-theme, upper-tab-navigation, lower-tab-navigation, playground-change, or playground-toggle LiveView events to a mounted Phoenix Storybook playground can flood the BEAM atom table with attacker-controlled strings, permanently leaking atoms until the VM hits its ~1,048,576 atom ceiling and crashes the entire node. No authentication is required beyond being able to reach the storybook route.

Tabs parsing was introduced in https://github.com/phenixdigital/phoenix_storybook/commit/0228669d55c23a754d1ef11f49a32121129d5395

Details

PhoenixStorybook.Story.Playground and PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers converts user-supplied event params into atoms without checking whether the atoms already exist:

• handle_set_variation_assign/3 (lib/phoenix_storybook/helpers/extra_assigns_helpers.ex:59) iterates the event params map and calls String.to_atom/1 on every key.
• handle_toggle_variation_assign/3 (line 73) calls String.to_atom/1 on the "attr" value supplied by the client.
• to_variation_id/2 (lines 90, 93) calls String.to_atom/1 on each element of "variation_id".
• to_value/4 (lines 106, 107) calls String.to_atom/1 on the raw string value for any attribute declared as :atom or :boolean.

The existing guards do not help: check_type!/3 for :boolean inspects the atom after String.to_atom/1 has already interned it, so the leak has already happened. The :atom branch only checks is_atom/1, which is trivially true for the atom that was just created. Atoms in the BEAM are never garbage-collected, so each unique attacker string is a permanent leak; once the atom table fills, the VM aborts.

The fix is to use String.to_existing_atom/1 (with a rescue that rejects unknown names) or, better, to look the attribute / variation up in the declared story.attributes() / variation registry and reuse the atom from there.

PoC

The attached script focuses on only the first class of parameters. It encodes the threat model of an outside attacker who can deliver psb-assign events to a mounted storybook playground LiveView. LiveView event handlers route those params into the public helper PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers.handle_set_variation_assign/3 (see lib/phoenix_storybook/live/story/playground_preview_live.ex), so the script calls that helper directly with attacker-shaped params — a stub FakeStory providing an empty attributes/0 list and a single :default variation, plus an extra_assigns map keyed by {:single, :default}.

Each simulated request is a params map with 5,000 unique keys of the form "psb_evil_<nonce>_<r>_<i>". Because the helper does for {key, value} <- params, ..., do: {String.to_atom(key), ...}, every distinct key is interned as a brand-new permanent atom. The script issues 5 such requests for 25,000 atoms total — modest on purpose so the script finishes quickly; raising either loop bound walks the process straight into :erlang.system_info(:atom_limit) and crashes the VM.

The script measures :erlang.system_info(:atom_count) before and after, prints the delta and the atom limit, and prints VERIFIED: … when the delta is at least requests * attrs_per_request (i.e. 25,000), proving that each attacker-controlled string became a permanent atom. No authentication is required by the helper itself — only the ability to reach the storybook route and emit the event.

The full script is attached below under "Scripts and Logs".

Impact

Unauthenticated denial-of-service via atom-table exhaustion against any Phoenix application that mounts Phoenix Storybook (1.0.0) on a network-reachable route. A single sustained stream of psb-assign / psb-toggle events with unique keys is enough to crash the entire BEAM node, taking down every application running on it — not just the storybook. The only precondition is reachability of the storybook LiveView; many deployments expose…

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in phenixdigital phoenix_storybook allows unauthenticated denial-of-service via BEAM atom table exhaustion.

Multiple LiveView event handlers convert user-supplied event parameter strings to atoms using String.to_atom/1 without validation: 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_set_variation_assign/3 interns every key of the psb-assign params map; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_toggle_variation_assign/3 interns the "attr" value from psb-toggle events; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_variation_id/2 interns elements of "variation_id"; and 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_value/4 interns raw string values for attributes declared as :atom or :boolean. BEAM atoms are never garbage-collected, so each unique attacker-controlled string is a permanent allocation. Once the atom table ceiling (~1,048,576 atoms) is reached, the entire BEAM node aborts, taking down all applications running on it.

This issue affects phoenix_storybook from 0.2.0 before 1.1.0.

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in phenixdigital phoenix_storybook allows unauthenticated denial-of-service via BEAM atom table exhaustion.

Multiple LiveView event handlers convert user-supplied event parameter strings to atoms using String.to_atom/1 without validation: 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_set_variation_assign/3 interns every key of the psb-assign params map; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_toggle_variation_assign/3 interns the "attr" value from psb-toggle events; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_variation_id/2 interns elements of "variation_id"; and 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_value/4 interns raw string values for attributes declared as :atom or :boolean. BEAM atoms are never garbage-collected, so each unique attacker-controlled string is a permanent allocation. Once the atom table ceiling (~1,048,576 atoms) is reached, the entire BEAM node aborts, taking down all applications running on it.

This issue affects phoenix_storybook from 0.2.0 before 1.1.0.

Summary

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in phenixdigital phoenix_storybook allows unauthenticated denial-of-service via BEAM atom table exhaustion.

Multiple LiveView event handlers convert user-supplied event parameter strings to atoms using String.to_atom/1 without validation: 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_set_variation_assign/3 interns every key of the psb-assign params map; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':handle_toggle_variation_assign/3 interns the "attr" value from psb-toggle events; 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_variation_id/2 interns elements of "variation_id"; and 'Elixir.PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers':to_value/4 interns raw string values for attributes declared as :atom or :boolean. BEAM atoms are never garbage-collected, so each unique attacker-controlled string is a permanent allocation. Once the atom table ceiling (~1,048,576 atoms) is reached, the entire BEAM node aborts, taking down all applications running on it.

This issue affects phoenix_storybook from 0.2.0 before 1.1.0.

Configurations

Phoenix Storybook must be mounted on a network-reachable route.

Summary

An attacker who can deliver psb-assign, psb-toggle, psb-set-theme, upper-tab-navigation, lower-tab-navigation, playground-change, or playground-toggle LiveView events to a mounted Phoenix Storybook playground can flood the BEAM atom table with attacker-controlled strings, permanently leaking atoms until the VM hits its ~1,048,576 atom ceiling and crashes the entire node. No authentication is required beyond being able to reach the storybook route.

Tabs parsing was introduced in https://github.com/phenixdigital/phoenix_storybook/commit/0228669d55c23a754d1ef11f49a32121129d5395

Details

PhoenixStorybook.Story.Playground and PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers converts user-supplied event params into atoms without checking whether the atoms already exist:

• handle_set_variation_assign/3 (lib/phoenix_storybook/helpers/extra_assigns_helpers.ex:59) iterates the event params map and calls String.to_atom/1 on every key.
• handle_toggle_variation_assign/3 (line 73) calls String.to_atom/1 on the "attr" value supplied by the client.
• to_variation_id/2 (lines 90, 93) calls String.to_atom/1 on each element of "variation_id".
• to_value/4 (lines 106, 107) calls String.to_atom/1 on the raw string value for any attribute declared as :atom or :boolean.

The existing guards do not help: check_type!/3 for :boolean inspects the atom after String.to_atom/1 has already interned it, so the leak has already happened. The :atom branch only checks is_atom/1, which is trivially true for the atom that was just created. Atoms in the BEAM are never garbage-collected, so each unique attacker string is a permanent leak; once the atom table fills, the VM aborts.

The fix is to use String.to_existing_atom/1 (with a rescue that rejects unknown names) or, better, to look the attribute / variation up in the declared story.attributes() / variation registry and reuse the atom from there.

PoC

The attached script focuses on only the first class of parameters. It encodes the threat model of an outside attacker who can deliver psb-assign events to a mounted storybook playground LiveView. LiveView event handlers route those params into the public helper PhoenixStorybook.ExtraAssignsHelpers.handle_set_variation_assign/3 (see lib/phoenix_storybook/live/story/playground_preview_live.ex), so the script calls that helper directly with attacker-shaped params — a stub FakeStory providing an empty attributes/0 list and a single :default variation, plus an extra_assigns map keyed by {:single, :default}.

Each simulated request is a params map with 5,000 unique keys of the form "psb_evil_<nonce>_<r>_<i>". Because the helper does for {key, value} <- params, ..., do: {String.to_atom(key), ...}, every distinct key is interned as a brand-new permanent atom. The script issues 5 such requests for 25,000 atoms total — modest on purpose so the script finishes quickly; raising either loop bound walks the process straight into :erlang.system_info(:atom_limit) and crashes the VM.

The script measures :erlang.system_info(:atom_count) before and after, prints the delta and the atom limit, and prints VERIFIED: … when the delta is at least requests * attrs_per_request (i.e. 25,000), proving that each attacker-controlled string became a permanent atom. No authentication is required by the helper itself — only the ability to reach the storybook route and emit the event.

The full script is attached below under "Scripts and Logs".

Impact

Unauthenticated denial-of-service via atom-table exhaustion against any Phoenix application that mounts Phoenix Storybook (1.0.0) on a network-reachable route. A single sustained stream of psb-assign / psb-toggle events with unique keys is enough to crash the entire BEAM node, taking down every application running on it — not just the storybook. The only precondition is reachability of the storybook LiveView; many deployments expose…