Description
Signed to Unsigned Conversion Error and Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in Erlang OTP erts allows an attacker who can supply a crafted Erlang external term format (ETF) binary to binary_to_term/1 to corrupt the BEAM heap pointer and crash the virtual machine.
When decoding a LARGE_TUPLE_EXT term, the validation pass decoded_size() in erts/emulator/beam/external.c reads the 32-bit arity field as unsigned (get_uint32()), while the decode pass dec_term() reads the same field as a signed 32-bit integer (get_int32()) into an int. An arity wire value of 0x80000000 passes validation as 2147483648 but decodes as -2147483648, so the subsequent hp += n moves the heap allocation pointer backward. Neither pass enforces the runtime tuple-arity limit MAX_ARITYVAL. The result is an out-of-bounds heap write; in practice the VM detects an impossible heap size and aborts, denying service. The required padding is large when uncompressed but the compressed-ETF envelope shrinks it to a small payload on the wire.
This issue affects OTP from OTP 25.0 before OTP 27.3.4.15, OTP 28.5.0.4, and OTP 29.0.4, corresponding to erts from 13.0 before 15.2.7.11, 16.4.0.4, and 17.0.4.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erlang | OTP | 25.0, 13.0 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | erlang | 1:29.0.4+dfsg-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | erlang | 1:27.3.4.1+dfsg-1+deb13u3 | — |
| Debian 12 | erlang | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | erlang | 1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1 | USN-8827-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | erlang | 1:25.3.2.8+dfsg-1ubuntu4.7 | USN-8827-1 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | erlang | 1:24.2.1+dfsg-1ubuntu0.7 | USN-8827-1 |
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | erlang | 1:22.2.7+dfsg-1ubuntu0.5+esm2 | USN-8827-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | erlang | 1:20.2.2+dfsg-1ubuntu2+esm3 | USN-8827-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | erlang | 1:18.3-dfsg-1ubuntu3.1+esm3 | USN-8827-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | erlang | 1:16.b.3-dfsg-1ubuntu2.2+esm2 | USN-8827-1 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP7 | erlang | 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 |
| SLES 15 SP7 | erlang26 | 26.2.1-150300.7.28.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3579-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | erlang | 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | erlang26 | 26.2.1-150300.7.28.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3579-1 |
| SLES 15 SP5 | erlang | 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 |
| SLES 15 SP4 | erlang | 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 |
Show 5 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 15 SP6 | erlang | 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 |
| SLES for SAP 15 SP6 | erlang26 | 26.2.1-150300.7.28.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3579-1 |
| SLES for SAP 15 SP5 | erlang | 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 |
| SLES for SAP 15 SP4 | erlang | 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 |
| SLE HPC 15 SP5 | erlang | 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 |
| SLE HPC 15 SP4 | erlang | 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | erlang | 28.5.0.4-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:11559-1 |
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | erlang27 | 27.1.3-3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:11560-1 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | erlang | 26.2.5.21-4 | — |
Advisories 6
- USN-8827-1 erlang vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Sep 28, 2026
- WID-SEC-2026-2533 Erlang/OTP: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Sep 28, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:11559-1 erlang-28.5.0.4-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Aug 21, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:11560-1 erlang27-27.1.3-3.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Aug 21, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:3645-1 Security update for erlang SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Aug 21, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:3579-1 Security update for erlang26 SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Aug 12, 2026
References
- Heap Pointer Corruption via signed/unsigned Mismatch in LARGE_TUPLE_EXT Decoding (binary_to_term/1) vendor-advisory related
- EEF CNA record for CVE-2026-55737 related
- OSV record EEF-CVE-2026-55737 related
- Erlang/OTP version ordering
- Introducing commit ebcbb97 in erlang/otp related
- Fix commit c5210b4 in erlang/otp patch