cowboy_req:read_part/3 in src/cowboy_req.erl accumulates incoming request bytes into a Buffer binary with no upper-bound check. When cow_multipart:parse_headers/2 returns more or {more, Buffer2}, the function reads up to Length bytes (default 64 KB) from the request body and recurses with the enlarged buffer. There is no equivalent of the byte_size(Acc) > Length guard present in the sibling function read_part_body/4. An unauthenticated attacker can send a multipart/form-data request whose body never yields a complete header section — for example, a body that never contains the advertised boundary delimiter, or one whose header lines never contain \r\n\r\n — and force the server process to accumulate memory linearly with the bytes the protocol layer is willing to deliver. A handful of concurrent such uploads is sufficient to exhaust BEAM memory.
This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0 before 2.15.0.
No advisories yet.
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
Wed, 13 May 2026 19:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics |
ssvc
|
Wed, 13 May 2026 18:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ninenines cowboy allows denial of service via unbounded buffer accumulation in multipart header parsing. cowboy_req:read_part/3 in src/cowboy_req.erl accumulates incoming request bytes into a Buffer binary with no upper-bound check. When cow_multipart:parse_headers/2 returns more or {more, Buffer2}, the function reads up to Length bytes (default 64 KB) from the request body and recurses with the enlarged buffer. There is no equivalent of the byte_size(Acc) > Length guard present in the sibling function read_part_body/4. An unauthenticated attacker can send a multipart/form-data request whose body never yields a complete header section — for example, a body that never contains the advertised boundary delimiter, or one whose header lines never contain \r\n\r\n — and force the server process to accumulate memory linearly with the bytes the protocol layer is willing to deliver. A handful of concurrent such uploads is sufficient to exhaust BEAM memory. This issue affects cowboy from 2.0.0 before 2.15.0. | |
| Title | Unbounded buffer accumulation in multipart header parsing causes denial of service in cowboy | |
| First Time appeared |
Ninenines
Ninenines cowboy |
|
| Weaknesses | CWE-770 | |
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:a:ninenines:cowboy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Ninenines
Ninenines cowboy |
|
| References |
| |
| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
|
Projects
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: EEF
Published:
Updated: 2026-05-13T18:52:29.452Z
Reserved: 2026-05-13T11:44:39.149Z
Link: CVE-2026-8466
Updated: 2026-05-13T18:52:18.933Z
Status : Received
Published: 2026-05-13T19:17:30.540
Modified: 2026-05-13T19:17:30.540
Link: CVE-2026-8466
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-05-13T20:00:04Z