⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● High · CVSS 8.7

How to Fix CVE-2026-32688: CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in plug_cowboy

By Sai Kiran Pandrala

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

Last verified: 2026-05-25

CVE-2026-32688 is a cwe-770 allocation of resources without limits or throttling in elixir-plug plug_cowboy. Fix it by upgrading to the patched build from the vendor advisory.

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 8.7 - High
Actively exploited?Not currently in the CISA KEV catalog
Affectedplug_cowboy 2.0.0 up to (excluding) 2.8.1; plug_cowboy 12ecfd024bb179d48b018fecf074e43fe6a19c83 up to (excluding) bfb34cb45eb354e56437f7023fb306de1bf9c19b
Fixed inSee vendor advisory
Type (CWE)CWE-770: CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

What is CVE-2026-32688?

CVE-2026-32688 is a cwe-770 allocation of resources without limits or throttling flaw in elixir-plug plug_cowboy. It carries a CVSS base score of 8.7 (high). It is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

From the source record: 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.

Why it matters in practice: The blast radius depends on how the affected service is exposed. An internet-facing instance with no compensating controls is the highest-risk configuration.

Am I affected?

You are affected if your installation of plug_cowboy matches a version listed in the Affected row above.

Check the running version against the Affected row above using the product's admin console or --version flag.

How to fix CVE-2026-32688

Apply the vendor patch. Target the build named in the Fixed in row above (See vendor advisory). The runnable command set below covers the most common deployment patterns for plug_cowboy.

Generic upgrade pattern

If the affected product is a Linux package, upgrade via the system package manager:


# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y

# RHEL / Rocky / Alma
sudo dnf upgrade --security -y

If it ships as a Windows installer, download the patched build from the vendor advisory and:


# Vendor advisory: https://github.com/elixir-plug/plug_cowboy/security/advisories/GHSA-q8x4-x7mp-5vg2
Start-Process msiexec.exe -ArgumentList '/i <patched-installer>.msi /qn /norestart' -Wait
Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | \
    Where-Object DisplayName -match '<product-name>' | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion

After applying the patch

  1. Restart the service or device so the patched binary loads.
  2. Confirm the running version matches the Fixed in row using the verification command below.
  3. Rotate credentials and API keys that the affected service could access if the asset was exposed during the disclosure window.

If you can't patch immediately

Until the patch lands, narrow the attack surface with these runnable controls.

Restrict network exposure

Block public access to the affected service at the perimeter. Allow only trusted source IPs.


# Linux iptables: only allow trusted admin subnet
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s 10.10.10.0/24 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP
sudo iptables-save | sudo tee /etc/iptables/rules.v4


# Windows firewall: only allow trusted admin subnet on management port
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Restrict-Mgmt-Allow" -Direction Inbound -Action Allow `
  -RemoteAddress 10.10.10.0/24 -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 443
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Restrict-Mgmt-Deny"  -Direction Inbound -Action Block `
  -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 443

Mitigations are temporary. Apply the vendor patch as soon as a maintenance window opens.

How to verify the fix worked

Confirm the patched build is the one actually running.

Check the running version against the Affected row above using the product's admin console or --version flag.

Expected: a version at or above the patched build named in the vendor advisory.

Also worth doing: pull recent log windows for indicators of compromise listed in the vendor advisory, and re-run an authenticated vulnerability scan with up-to-date signatures.

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2026-32688 being exploited in the wild?

As of 2026-05-25, CVE-2026-32688 is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Watch the catalog and patch on a normal cadence; KEV status can change as exploitation evidence emerges.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-32688?

The CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).

What version fixes this?

The vendor advisory names the patched build. See the References section.

Will a WAF or IDS rule alone close this?

No. Network filters cut down opportunistic scans but they do not remove the flaw. The vendor patch is the only durable fix.

References

*Assembled from the official vendor advisory, the NVD record, and the CISA KEV listing on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor advisory before applying changes in production.*