httpd parks a request worker indefinitely on a malformed chunk size sent after the headers
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-772.
Summary
Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in Erlang/OTP inets httpd allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to cause denial of service by sending a request with a chunked body whose chunk-size line is not a hexadecimal number. The worker serving the connection is never released and no timeout reclaims it, so repeating the request across connections occupies every available worker and denies service to legitimate clients. No authentication is required and the default configuration is affected. The chunk-size line must arrive in a write separate from the headers. When the body accompanies the headers, httpd_request_handler:handle_body/3 calls http_chunk:decode/3 inside a try ... catch throw:Error, so the {error, {chunk_size, _}} thrown by http_chunk:decode_size/4 is answered with 400 Bad Request. When the chunk size arrives later, the decoder is resumed through a bare catch in httpd_request_handler:handle_info/2, which converts the throw into a return value rather than raising it; the resulting error tuple is then treated as the next decoder continuation, the socket is re-armed, and the worker waits for data that never comes. The request timeout has already been cancelled at the point the headers were accepted, and the periodic byte-rate check is only armed when minimum_bytes_per_second is configured, which it is not by default. This issue affects OTP from OTP 18.1.4 before OTP 27.3.4.17, OTP 28.5.0.6, and OTP 29.0.6, corresponding to inets from 6.0.3 before 9.3.2.7, 9.6.2.3, and 9.7.2.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2026:62531 Released 2026-09-02 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update
- Red Hat Hardened Images erlang27-27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1@aarch64, erlang27-27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1@src, erlang27-27.3.4.17-0.1.hum1@x86_64 +47
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 18.0 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Hardened Images | Fixed | RHSA-2026:62531 |
Not affected: 3 products
- Cryostat 4
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2
- Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-69664
References
More Erlang vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-23504 Erlang/OTP SSH Vulnerable to Pre-Authentication RCE KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- 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
- TI-2026-60474 TLS 1.3 client skips server authentication when ServerHello carries an unsolicited pre_shared_key extension CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-69664 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-69664 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-69664 · 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