CVE-2026-48854 Unbounded request body accumulation causes memory exhaustion in elixir-grpc/grpc
Unauthenticated attackers can crash the server by streaming large or slow request bodies, exhausting memory in the Elixir gRPC library.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-48854?
CVE-2026-48854 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in elixir-grpc grpc, published on 15 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in elixir-grpc grpc allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust the BEAM's memory and crash the server by streaming a large or slow-trickle unary request body.
'Elixir.GRPC.Server.Adapters.Cowboy.Handler':read_full_body/3 (lib/grpc/server/adapters/cowboy/handler.ex) accumulates every received chunk into a single growing binary with no size cap. Additionally, when the client omits the grpc-timeout header, the per-chunk read timeout resolves to :infinity, allowing a slow-trickle client to keep the connection alive indefinitely while memory grows. A single connection is sufficient to exhaust server memory and crash the node.
This issue affects grpc: from 0.3.0-alpha.2 before 1.0.0.
Weakness: CWE-770
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-48854?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including grpc.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
grpc Hex | From 0.3.0-alpha.2 | 1.0.0 |
grpc Hex | From 0.3.1 | 1.0.0 |
grpc Hex | From 0.3.1 | 1.0.0 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-48854?
Upgrade grpc to 1.0.0 or later.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-48854 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-48854 exists.
Sources
Also known as EEF-CVE-2026-48854, GHSA-q8gf-9rvj-gmgj.