Zero-length HTTP/2 CONTINUATION frames bypass Mint's header-block byte-size cap and exhaust client memory
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-770.
Summary
Allocation of resources without limits vulnerability in elixir-mint mint allows a remote HTTP/2 server to exhaust memory on the client host and cause a denial of service. The Mint.HTTP2.handle_continuation/3 function in lib/mint/http2.ex accumulates the header-block fragment carried by each HTTP/2 CONTINUATION frame into a growing conn.headers_being_processed nesting, one level deeper per frame, and only releases it when a frame with the END_HEADERS flag arrives. The only guard on this accumulator is Mint.HTTP2.assert_header_block_within_max_size/2, which sums the byte size of the fragments received so far. Because a CONTINUATION frame is permitted by the protocol to carry a zero-length payload, an unbounded chain of zero-length CONTINUATION frames adds no bytes to the running total, never trips the size cap, and never emits END_HEADERS, yet each frame still nests the accumulator one level deeper. A malicious HTTP/2 server (reachable directly, via an attacker-controlled redirect, via SSRF, or via a man-in-the-middle) can open a stream by sending a HEADERS frame without END_HEADERS and then stream zero-length CONTINUATION frames indefinitely. Client memory grows one cons cell per frame received; sustained bandwidth from the peer drives the BEAM node running the Mint client to memory exhaustion and eventual out-of-memory termination. This issue affects mint: from 0.1.0 before 1.9.2.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| elixir-mint | mint | 0.1.0 to before 1.9.2 | 1.9.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- mint Vendorelixir-mint Affected 0.1.0 to before 1.9.2 Fixed in 1.9.2 Patch available CNA
CPE names CNA · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:elixir-mint:mint:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | — |
- cpe:2.3:a:elixir-mint:mint:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·—
Remediation
- Fix · CNA mint (elixir-mint) Fixed in 1.9.2
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
elixir-mint mint 1.9.2
2 records Highest priority Priority HIGH 1 HIGH, 1 MEDIUM
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-41932 Unbounded HTTP/1 response-header and chunked-trailer accumulation in Mint causes memory-exhaustion DoSPriority HIGH 69
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-59246
References
More elixir-mint vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-41929 Unauthenticated denial-of-service via unbounded HPACK integer decoding in hpax CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-40963 mint buffers an entire chunked response chunk in memory in Mint.HTTP1.decode_body/5 CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-36665 HTTP/2 CONTINUATION flood in Mint client via unbounded header-block accumulation CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-36126 Unbounded conn.streams growth in Mint HTTP/2 client via unenforced PUSH_PROMISE concurrency CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-57046 Unbounded HTTP/1 status-line and chunk-extension buffering in Mint causes memory-exhaustion DoS CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-41932 Unbounded HTTP/1 response-header and chunked-trailer accumulation in Mint causes memory-exhaustion DoS CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.2
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences