Plug.Cowboy.Conn.conn/1 in lib/plug/cowboy/conn.ex calls String.to_atom/1 on the value returned by :cowboy_req.scheme/1. For HTTP/2 connections, cowlib passes the client-supplied :scheme pseudo-header value through verbatim without validation. Each unique value permanently allocates a new entry in the BEAM atom table. Since atoms are never garbage-collected and the atom table has a fixed limit (default 1,048,576), an unauthenticated attacker can exhaust the table by sending HTTP/2 requests with unique :scheme values, causing the Erlang VM to abort with system_limit and taking down the entire node.
This vulnerability does not affect HTTP/1.1, where cowboy derives the scheme from the listener type rather than from a client-supplied header.
This issue affects plug_cowboy: from 2.0.0 before 2.8.1.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
No advisories yet.
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
Disable HTTP/2 on the Plug.Cowboy.https/3 listener by passing protocol_options: %{protocols: [:http]} in the cowboy options. This restricts the listener to HTTP/1.1, where the scheme is derived from the listener type and is not attacker-controlled.
Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in elixir-plug plug_cowboy allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via atom table exhaustion. Plug.Cowboy.Conn.conn/1 in lib/plug/cowboy/conn.ex calls String.to_atom/1 on the value returned by :cowboy_req.scheme/1. For HTTP/2 connections, cowlib passes the client-supplied :scheme pseudo-header value through verbatim without validation. Each unique value permanently allocates a new entry in the BEAM atom table. Since atoms are never garbage-collected and the atom table has a fixed limit (default 1,048,576), an unauthenticated attacker can exhaust the table by sending HTTP/2 requests with unique :scheme values, causing the Erlang VM to abort with system_limit and taking down the entire node. This vulnerability does not affect HTTP/1.1, where cowboy derives the scheme from the listener type rather than from a client-supplied header. This issue affects plug_cowboy: from 2.0.0 before 2.8.1. | |
| Title | Atom table exhaustion via HTTP/2 :scheme pseudo-header in plug_cowboy | |
| First Time appeared |
Elixir-plug
Elixir-plug plug Cowboy |
|
| Weaknesses | CWE-770 | |
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:a:elixir-plug:plug_cowboy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Elixir-plug
Elixir-plug plug Cowboy |
|
| References |
| |
| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
|
Projects
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: EEF
Published:
Updated: 2026-04-27T14:55:05.241Z
Reserved: 2026-03-13T09:12:14.475Z
Link: CVE-2026-32688
No data.
Status : Received
Published: 2026-04-27T14:16:47.340
Modified: 2026-04-27T14:16:47.340
Link: CVE-2026-32688
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.