Decompression bomb DoS in Req via auto-decoded archive and compressed response bodies
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) vulnerability in wojtekmach Req allows attacker-controlled HTTP servers to exhaust memory in a Req client via decompression-bomb response bodies. Req's default response pipeline includes Req.Steps.decode_body/1 and Req.Steps.decompress_body/1 in lib/req/steps.ex. decode_body/1 dispatches on the server-supplied content-type (or URL extension) and calls :zip.extract(body, [:memory]) for application/zip, :erl_tar.extract({:binary, body}, [:memory]) for application/x-tar, and :erl_tar.extract({:binary, body}, [:memory, :compressed]) for application/gzip / .tgz. Each returns the full decompressed archive contents as a [{name, bytes}] list in memory, with no per-entry or total size cap. decompress_body/1 walks the content-encoding header and chains :zlib/:brotli/:ezstd decoders, so a response advertising content-encoding: gzip, gzip, gzip inflates through multiple layers without bound. Both steps are enabled by default, no caller opt-in is required, and the attacker controls the content-type and content-encoding headers on their own server (or on any host reached via Req's automatic redirect following). A sub-megabyte response can expand to multiple gigabytes on the victim, crashing the BEAM process. This issue affects req: from 0.1.0 before 0.6.1.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| wojtekmach | req | 0.1.0 to before 0.6.1 | 0.6.1 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | req (Hex) | 0.1.0 to before 0.6.1 | 0.6.1 | Patch available | GHSA-655f-mp8p-96gv |
- req Vendorwojtekmach Affected 0.1.0 to before 0.6.1 Fixed in 0.6.1 Patch available CNA
- req (Hex) Vendor— Affected 0.1.0 to before 0.6.1 Fixed in 0.6.1 Patch available GHSA-655f-mp8p-96gv
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:wojtekmach:req:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 0.1.0 to before 0.6.1 | Vulnerable | wojtekmach |
- cpe:2.3:a:wojtekmach:req:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 0.1.0 to before 0.6.1 Vulnerable ·wojtekmach
Remediation
- Fix · CNA req (wojtekmach) Fixed in 0.6.1
- Fix · GHSA-655f-mp8p-96gv req (Hex) Fixed in 0.6.1 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-49755
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-655f-mp8p-96gv
- 2026-10-25 EPSS moved to the below the 50th percentile
References
Patch 2
Advisory 2
More wojtekmach Req vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-36667 Multipart form-data header injection in Req via unescaped name/filename/content_type CVSS 4.0LOW 2.1
Sources
- CVE-2026-49755 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-49755 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-655f-mp8p-96gv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences