CVE-2026-56814
Published:July 10, 2026
Updated:July 21, 2026
Plug.Parsers.MULTIPART, the multipart request-body parser used to handle file uploads and multipart forms, does not enforce its :length budget against all consumed resources, allowing an unauthenticated remote attacker to cause denial of service. The parser charges the :length limit only for part body bytes; part header bytes are never counted, and a part with an empty body costs zero.
Because every part whose Content-Disposition carries a non-empty filename creates a fresh temporary file (via Plug.Upload) and retains a Plug.Upload struct for the duration of the request, an attacker can send a single request composed of many empty-body file parts. Such a request stays well under the configured :length limit (8,000,000 bytes by default) while creating one temporary file per part, leading to inode and disk exhaustion and unbounded memory growth. Any application using Plug.Parsers with the :multipart parser is affected, and no authentication is required, only reachability of a multipart endpoint over HTTP.
This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/plug/parsers/multipart.ex and program routines Plug.Parsers.MULTIPART.parse_multipart/2, Plug.Parsers.MULTIPART.parse_multipart_headers/5, Plug.Parsers.MULTIPART.parse_multipart_body/4, and Plug.Parsers.MULTIPART.parse_multipart_file/4.
This issue affects plug: from 1.4.0 before 1.16.6, from 1.17.0 before 1.17.4, from 1.18.0 before 1.18.5, from 1.19.0 before 1.19.5, and from 1.20.0 before 1.20.3.
Affected Packages
plug (HEX):
Affected version(s) >=1.18.0 <1.18.5Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.18.5plug (HEX):
Affected version(s) >=1.20.0 <1.20.3Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.20.3plug (HEX):
Affected version(s) >=1.4.0 <1.16.6Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.16.6plug (HEX):
Affected version(s) >=1.19.0 <1.19.5Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.19.5plug (HEX):
Affected version(s) >=1.17.0 <1.17.4Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.17.4Related Resources (9)
Do you need more information?
Contact UsCVSS v4
Base Score:
6.9
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Attack Requirements
NONE
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
NONE
Vulnerable System Integrity
NONE
Vulnerable System Availability
LOW
Subsequent System Confidentiality
NONE
Subsequent System Integrity
NONE
Subsequent System Availability
NONE
CVSS v3
Base Score:
5.3
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
LOW
Weakness Type (CWE)
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
EPSS
Base Score:
0.58