# CVE-2026-82579: AshAi tool loop never terminates when all tool calls are filtered out, enabling denial of service

> Attackers can trigger an infinite loop in AshAi tool processing by influencing model output, causing unbounded requests and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.0 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 31 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 31 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** EEF-CVE-2026-82579, GHSA-rcx7-x2w5-mmc2

## What is CVE-2026-82579?

CVE-2026-82579 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in ash-project ash_ai, published on 31 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition (Infinite Loop) vulnerability in ash-project ash_ai allows an attacker who can influence a model's output to hang the tool loop and drive unbounded, repeated model requests.

AshAi.ToolLoop classifies a model response of :tool_calls, then filters the calls through normalize_tool_calls/2 and unprocessed_tool_calls/2. Both can empty the list: a call missing a valid name, or one reusing a tool_call_id that already has a result in history, is dropped. With an empty list the loop appended nothing and recursed with a byte-identical message list, so the conversation never advanced and the same request was re-sent every iteration. Under the supported max_iterations: :infinity this never terminated; otherwise it exhausted the full budget. Prompt-injected content can make the model re-emit a spent tool_call_id. The fix treats an empty post-filter list as terminal.

This issue affects ash_ai: from 0.6.0 before 1.0.0.

Weakness: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-82579?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including ash_ai.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `ash_ai` | Hex | From 0.6.0 | 1.0.0 |

## How do I fix CVE-2026-82579?

Upgrade ash_ai to 1.0.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-82579 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-82579 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-82579 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-82579 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in ash-project ash_ai, published on 31 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-82579 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- ash_ai (Hex): affected from 0.6.0; fixed in 1.0.0

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-82579/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-82579/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-82579
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-82579
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-82579

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-82579/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.