CVE-2026-54894 Details
Description
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in ueberauth guardian allows denial of service via unbounded atom creation from attacker-influenced binary input. Guardian.Plug.Keys derives connection and session namespace keys by passing arbitrary binaries to String.to_atom/1. base_key/1 in lib/guardian/plug/keys.ex converts any binary into the atom :"guardian_<input>", and the derived helpers claims_key/1, resource_key/1, and token_key/1 create a second atom on top of that. key_from_other/1 likewise converts a regex-captured binary through String.to_atom/1. The public specs advertise String.t() as a valid argument, so passing a string is documented usage, and higher-level entry points such as Guardian.Plug.current_token(conn, key: key) thread the caller-supplied key straight into these functions. String.to_atom/1 creates a brand-new atom for every previously unseen binary, atoms are never garbage collected, and the BEAM atom table is fixed at roughly 1,048,576 entries by default. An application that routes attacker-influenced data (a tenant identifier, header, or other request input) into a Guardian key therefore mints one permanent atom per distinct value. A modest stream of varied, unauthenticated input permanently consumes the atom table and crashes the BEAM node, taking down every application running on it. This issue affects guardian: from 0.1.0 before 2.4.1.
A denial-of-service vulnerability has been identified in the Ueberauth Guardian library, specifically in versions 0.1.0 prior to 2.4.1. The issue arises from the library's `Plug.Keys` module, which converts arbitrary binary input into atoms without any restrictions. This unbounded atom creation can exhaust the BEAM's atom table, causing the application to crash. The vulnerability is exploitable when an application derives Guardian keys from untrusted input, such as tenant identifiers or request headers, allowing an attacker to manipulate the input and create a large number of unique atoms that permanently consume available resources.
Users are advised to update to Guardian version 2.4.1 or later, and to avoid deriving Guardian keys from untrusted input. Instead, use a fixed set of namespace keys or validate input against a known allowlist before use.
Metrics
CVSS 4.0 Severity and Vector Strings:
CVSS 3.x Severity and Vector Strings:
No data available for CVSS Version 2.0 on this CVE.
CISA-ADP
Assessed Aug 3, 2026References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
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| URL | Source(s) | Tag(s) |
|---|---|---|
| https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/security/advisories/GHSA-xqch-c77q-rgh5 | CISA-ADP | ExploitPatchVendor Advisory |
| https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-54894.html | EEF | Third Party Advisory |
| https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/commit/2952657e42e6341a67e6aaad09d8f0b40ae917cb | EEF | Patch |
| https://github.com/ueberauth/guardian/security/advisories/GHSA-xqch-c77q-rgh5 | EEF | ExploitPatchVendor Advisory |
| https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-54894 | EEF | Third Party Advisory |
Weakness Enumeration
| CWE-ID | CWE Name | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CWE-770 | Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling | EEF |
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| ueberauth guardian | < 2.4.1 |
CPE
Remediation
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Change History
3 change records found show changes
| Date | Action | Recorded By |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | Initial Analysis | [email protected] |
| Aug 3, 2026 | CVE Modified | CISA-ADP |
| Aug 1, 2026 | New CVE Received | EEF |