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CVE-2026-43970 (GCVE-0-2026-43970)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-05-13 18:43 – Updated: 2026-05-15 04:33
VLAI
Title
Decompression Bomb in cow_spdy:inflate/2 Allows Memory Exhaustion via Crafted SPDY Frame
Summary
Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via memory exhaustion. cow_spdy:inflate/2 in cowlib passes peer-supplied compressed bytes directly to zlib:inflate/2 with no output size bound. The SPDY header compression dictionary (?ZDICT) is public, and zlib compresses long runs of repeated bytes at roughly 1024:1, so a few kilobytes of SPDY frame payload can decompress to gigabytes on the BEAM heap, OOM-killing the node. A single unauthenticated SPDY frame is sufficient to trigger the condition. The parsers for syn_stream, syn_reply, and headers frame types are all affected via cow_spdy:parse_headers/2. This issue affects cowlib from 0.1.0 before 2.16.1.
SSVC
Exploitation: none Automatable: no Technical Impact: partial
CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)
Decision recorded 2026-05-14 12:38 UTC
CWE
  • CWE-409 - Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification)
Assigner
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
ninenines cowlib Affected: 0.1.0 , < 2.16.1 (semver)
    cpe:2.3:a:ninenines:cowlib:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Create a notification for this product.
ninenines cowlib Affected: fad5c0049df278cc498b6cdb519b09e845a070a8 , < 16aad3fb9f81f5cda4d1706ff0c54237c619c282 (git)
    cpe:2.3:a:ninenines:cowlib:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Create a notification for this product.
Show details on NVD website

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                "src/cow_spdy.erl"
              ],
              "programRoutines": [
                {
                  "name": "cow_spdy:parse/2"
                },
                {
                  "name": "cow_spdy:inflate/2"
                },
                {
                  "name": "cow_spdy:parse_headers/2"
                },
                {
                  "name": "cow_spdy:parse_headers/4"
                }
              ],
              "repo": "https://github.com/ninenines/cowlib",
              "vendor": "ninenines",
              "versions": [
                {
                  "lessThan": "16aad3fb9f81f5cda4d1706ff0c54237c619c282",
                  "status": "affected",
                  "version": "fad5c0049df278cc498b6cdb519b09e845a070a8",
                  "versionType": "git"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "configurations": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "supportingMedia": [
                {
                  "base64": false,
                  "type": "text/html",
                  "value": "\u003cp\u003eThe application must use \u003ctt\u003ecow_spdy:parse/2\u003c/tt\u003e to parse SPDY frames from an untrusted peer. cowboy itself does not use \u003ctt\u003ecow_spdy\u003c/tt\u003e; only direct callers of the \u003ctt\u003ecow_spdy\u003c/tt\u003e API are affected.\u003c/p\u003e"
                }
              ],
              "value": "The application must use cow_spdy:parse/2 to parse SPDY frames from an untrusted peer. cowboy itself does not use cow_spdy; only direct callers of the cow_spdy API are affected."
            }
          ],
          "cpeApplicability": [
            {
              "nodes": [
                {
                  "cpeMatch": [
                    {
                      "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:ninenines:cowlib:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                      "versionEndExcluding": "2.16.1",
                      "versionStartIncluding": "0.1.0",
                      "vulnerable": true
                    }
                  ],
                  "negate": false,
                  "operator": "OR"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "credits": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "finder",
              "value": "Peter Ullrich"
            },
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "remediation developer",
              "value": "Lo\u00efc Hoguin"
            }
          ],
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "supportingMedia": [
                {
                  "base64": false,
                  "type": "text/html",
                  "value": "\u003cp\u003eImproper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via memory exhaustion.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ctt\u003ecow_spdy:inflate/2\u003c/tt\u003e in cowlib passes peer-supplied compressed bytes directly to \u003ctt\u003ezlib:inflate/2\u003c/tt\u003e with no output size bound. The SPDY header compression dictionary (\u003ctt\u003e?ZDICT\u003c/tt\u003e) is public, and zlib compresses long runs of repeated bytes at roughly 1024:1, so a few kilobytes of SPDY frame payload can decompress to gigabytes on the BEAM heap, OOM-killing the node. A single unauthenticated SPDY frame is sufficient to trigger the condition. The parsers for \u003ctt\u003esyn_stream\u003c/tt\u003e, \u003ctt\u003esyn_reply\u003c/tt\u003e, and \u003ctt\u003eheaders\u003c/tt\u003e frame types are all affected via \u003ctt\u003ecow_spdy:parse_headers/2\u003c/tt\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis issue affects cowlib from 0.1.0 before 2.16.1.\u003c/p\u003e"
                }
              ],
              "value": "Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows unauthenticated remote denial of service via memory exhaustion.\n\ncow_spdy:inflate/2 in cowlib passes peer-supplied compressed bytes directly to zlib:inflate/2 with no output size bound. The SPDY header compression dictionary (?ZDICT) is public, and zlib compresses long runs of repeated bytes at roughly 1024:1, so a few kilobytes of SPDY frame payload can decompress to gigabytes on the BEAM heap, OOM-killing the node. A single unauthenticated SPDY frame is sufficient to trigger the condition. The parsers for syn_stream, syn_reply, and headers frame types are all affected via cow_spdy:parse_headers/2.\n\nThis issue affects cowlib from 0.1.0 before 2.16.1."
            }
          ],
          "impacts": [
            {
              "capecId": "CAPEC-130",
              "descriptions": [
                {
                  "lang": "en",
                  "value": "CAPEC-130 Excessive Allocation"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "metrics": [
            {
              "cvssV4_0": {
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackRequirements": "PRESENT",
                "attackVector": "NETWORK",
                "baseScore": 8.2,
                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
                "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
                "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
                "version": "4.0",
                "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "HIGH",
                "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "vulnIntegrityImpact": "NONE"
              },
              "format": "CVSS",
              "scenarios": [
                {
                  "lang": "en",
                  "value": "GENERAL"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "problemTypes": [
            {
              "descriptions": [
                {
                  "cweId": "CWE-409",
                  "description": "CWE-409 Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification)",
                  "lang": "en",
                  "type": "CWE"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "providerMetadata": {
            "dateUpdated": "2026-05-15T04:33:30.898Z",
            "orgId": "6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db",
            "shortName": "EEF"
          },
          "references": [
            {
              "tags": [
                "related",
                "third-party-advisory"
              ],
              "url": "https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-43970.html"
            },
            {
              "tags": [
                "related"
              ],
              "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-43970"
            },
            {
              "tags": [
                "patch"
              ],
              "url": "https://github.com/ninenines/cowlib/commit/16aad3fb9f81f5cda4d1706ff0c54237c619c282"
            }
          ],
          "solutions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "supportingMedia": [
                {
                  "base64": false,
                  "type": "text/html",
                  "value": "\u003cp\u003eUpgrade to cowlib 2.16.1 or later, in which the \u003ctt\u003ecow_spdy\u003c/tt\u003e module has been removed entirely. No patched version of \u003ctt\u003ecow_spdy\u003c/tt\u003e will be provided. Migrate away from SPDY, which has been deprecated since 2015 in favour of HTTP/2.\u003c/p\u003e"
                }
              ],
              "value": "Upgrade to cowlib 2.16.1 or later, in which the cow_spdy module has been removed entirely. No patched version of cow_spdy will be provided. Migrate away from SPDY, which has been deprecated since 2015 in favour of HTTP/2."
            }
          ],
          "source": {
            "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
          },
          "title": "Decompression Bomb in cow_spdy:inflate/2 Allows Memory Exhaustion via Crafted SPDY Frame",
          "x_generator": {
            "engine": "cvelib 1.8.0"
          }
        }
      },
      "cveMetadata": {
        "assignerOrgId": "6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db",
        "assignerShortName": "EEF",
        "cveId": "CVE-2026-43970",
        "datePublished": "2026-05-13T18:43:11.640Z",
        "dateReserved": "2026-05-04T18:23:25.574Z",
        "dateUpdated": "2026-05-15T04:33:30.898Z",
        "state": "PUBLISHED"
      },
      "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
      "dataVersion": "5.2"
    }
  }
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

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Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

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Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.


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