Hex can exhaust memory and disk from an untrusted package mirror
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Active
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · Low
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 30 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-770.
Summary
Hex from 0.11.2 before 2.5.2 uses memory and disk in proportion to data from a package mirror it treats as untrusted. Responses and package tarballs are read and decompressed without size limits before their checksums and signatures are checked (CWE-409). A remote attacker controlling a configured mirror can exhaust the memory or disk of a machine running mix deps.get or mix deps.update.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) vulnerability in hexpm hex allows an untrusted package mirror to exhaust the memory or disk space of the machine running mix deps.get, mix deps.update, mix hex.package fetch or mix hex.docs fetch. Hex treats a mirror configured with HEX_MIRROR_URL, HEX_MIRROR or mirror_url as untrusted: it doesn't send credentials to it, and it checks registry signatures and package checksums that the mirror can't forge. Several response paths consume memory or disk in proportion to what the mirror sends before any of those checks run. Hex.HTTP.request/5 reads the whole response body into memory and decompresses it with :zlib.gunzip/1 whenever the response's Content-Encoding contains gzip, with no limit on the compressed or decompressed size. Hex doesn't ask for compressed responses, so the server decides whether this step runs. It applies to registry, package, docs and API responses. Package tarballs have no download size limit. Hex 2.5.1 holds the whole tarball in memory and writes it to the cache, and the development branch streams it to a temporary file; the 16 MiB tarball limit is checked only when the file is unpacked. The tarball is then unpacked, into deps/<app> in 2.5.1 and into a staging directory on the development branch, before its checksums are compared with the registry. mix hex.docs fetch, and mix hex.docs offline when docs are missing, write the docs tarball to disk and extract it with :mix_hex_erl_tar.extract/2 without the 16 MiB compressed and 128 MiB decompressed limits that mix_hex_tarball:unpack_docs/3 applies. The signed registry doesn't cover docs tarballs, so nothing checks them. Registry responses are also decompressed before their signature is checked, in hex_core code that Hex vendors; that part is tracked in https://github.com/hexpm/hex_core/security/advisories/GHSA-7c4r-cgf9-9jmq. This issue affects hex: from 0.11.2 before 2.5.2.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hexpm | hex | 0.11.2 to before 2.5.2 | 2.5.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- hex Vendorhexpm Affected 0.11.2 to before 2.5.2 Fixed in 2.5.2 Patch available CNA
CPE names CNA · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:hexpm:hex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | — |
- cpe:2.3:a:hexpm:hex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·—
Remediation
Upgrade hex to 2.5.2 or later. Red Hat lists no fixed version and no plan for Ansible Automation Orchestrator 2026, Confidential Cluster Operator, Confidential Compute Attestation, Lightspeed Services for Advanced Cluster Management, Logging Subsystem for Red Hat OpenShift and other products.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA hex (hexpm) Fixed in 2.5.2
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
hexpm hex 2.5.2
7 records Highest priority Priority LOW 7 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-71017 Path traversal in Hex via unvalidated dependency app namesPriority LOW 35
- TI-2026-71021 Hex release-age cooldown is lifted when a locked release is retiredPriority LOW 33
- TI-2026-71020 Hex mix hex.package fetch writes unverified tarballs to stdoutPriority LOW 30
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Ansible Automation Orchestrator 2026 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Confidential Cluster Operator | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Confidential Compute Attestation | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Lightspeed Services for Advanced Cluster Management | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Logging Subsystem for Red Hat OpenShift | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| OpenShift Lightspeed | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Pen Drive Powered by Red Hat Lightspeed | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Ansible Core 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Developer Hub 1 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Discovery 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux command line assistant | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Hardened Images | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Lightspeed Services for OCP | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Offline Knowledge Portal | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Update Service | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Quay 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Satellite 6 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Trusted Artifact Signer | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Trusted Profile Analyzer | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-12 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-96618
- 2026-10-13 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-13 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-27 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More hexpm vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-24685 Lockfile checksums not verified in Hex allows dependency integrity bypass CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.9
- TI-2026-52887 OAuth token exchange grants repository scopes for organizations the principal cannot access CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.3
- TI-2026-17414 Password Reset Tokens Do Not Expire CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.5
- TI-2026-59264 Refresh tokens accepted as private repository credentials at the CDN CVSS 4.0LOW 2.3
- TI-2026-52890 Explicit organization scopes survive token refresh after membership ends CVSS 4.0LOW 2.3
- TI-2026-17410 Cross-site scripting (XSS) in OAuth Device Authorization screen CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-96618 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-96618 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-96618 · 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