Megaco flex scanner buffer overflow via oversized property parm name
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
Classic buffer overflow in the Erlang/OTP megaco flex scanner C driver allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to corrupt the driver's memory (and potentially achieve remote code execution or a denial-of-service crash) by sending a single text-encoded H.248/Megaco message containing an oversized property parm name. When tokenizing a Local/Remote descriptor, mfs_load_property_groups extracts the attacker-controlled property name (bounded only by the message length) and, when no value follows, formats it into a fixed 512-byte error_msg field of the MfsErlDrvData struct using an unchecked sprintf call. Names longer than roughly 452 bytes overflow into the immediately following struct fields (text_buf, text_ptr, term_spec, term_spec_size, term_spec_index), overwriting live pointers and counters with attacker-chosen bytes. Subsequent scanner code writes and frees through the corrupted pointers, producing arbitrary write and arbitrary free primitives inside the BEAM VM process, which can be leveraged for remote code execution. On builds compiled with _FORTIFY_SOURCE the overflow is detected at runtime and terminates the process with SIGABRT, resulting in denial of service. The overflow occurs in the flex scanner before any grammar or Megaco-level authentication processing, so exploitation requires only network reachability to the megaco transport port on a node configured with {scanner, flex}. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/megaco/src/flex/megaco_flex_scanner_drv.flex.src and program routines mfs_load_property_groups. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 27.3.4.15, from OTP 28.0 before OTP 28.5.0.4, and from OTP 29.0 before OTP 29.0.4, corresponding to megaco from 3.17.1 before 4.7.2.2, from 4.8 before 4.8.3.1, and from 4.9 before 4.9.1. Whether OTP before OTP 17.0, corresponding to megaco before 3.17.1, is affected is unknown.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erlang | OTP | 17.0 to before 27.3.4.15; 28.0 to before 28.5.0.4; 29.0 to before 29.0.4 | 27.3.4.15, 28.5.0.4, 29.0.4 | Patch available | CNA |
| Erlang | OTP | 3.17.1 to before 4.7.2.2; 4.8 to before 4.8.3.1; 4.9 to before 4.9.1 | 4.7.2.2, 4.8.3.1, 4.9.1 | Patch available | CNA |
- OTP VendorErlang Affected 17.0 to before 27.3.4.15; 28.0 to before 28.5.0.4; 29.0 to before 29.0.4 Fixed in 27.3.4.15, 28.5.0.4, 29.0.4 Patch available CNA
- OTP VendorErlang Affected 3.17.1 to before 4.7.2.2; 4.8 to before 4.8.3.1; 4.9 to before 4.9.1 Fixed in 4.7.2.2, 4.8.3.1, 4.9.1 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA OTP (Erlang) Fixed in 27.3.4.15, 28.5.0.4, 29.0.4
- Fix · CNA OTP (Erlang) Fixed in 4.7.2.2, 4.8.3.1, 4.9.1
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2026:47009 Released 2026-07-28 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update
- Red Hat Hardened Images erlang27-27.3.4.15-0.1.hum1@aarch64, erlang27-27.3.4.15-0.1.hum1@src, erlang27-27.3.4.15-0.1.hum1@x86_64 +47
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
Erlang OTP 17.0, 27.3.4.15 and 2 more versions
2 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 1 MEDIUM, 1 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-40359 TLS 1.2 and DTLS client accepts unoffered anonymous cipher suite, bypassing server authenticationPriority MEDIUM 41
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images | Fixed | RHSA-2026:47009 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-59250
References
More Erlang vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-23504 Erlang/OTP SSH Vulnerable to Pre-Authentication RCE KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2026-48954 httpd parks a request worker indefinitely on a malformed chunk size sent after the headers CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2023-26623 The SSH transport protocol with certain OpenSSH extensions, found in OpenSSH before 9.6… CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.9
- TI-2026-71037 Path traversal in rebar3 via unvalidated dependency app names CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-36042 ssl fails to validate incorrect extened key usage CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.5
- TI-2020-10791 Rebar3 versions 3.0.0-beta.3 to 3.13.2 are vulnerable to OS command injection via URL… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-59250 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-59250 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-59250 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences