CVE-2026-54451

HIGHPre-NVD 8.28.2
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

“—” beside the score: it is equal to the CVSS score beside it.

This high-severity CVE scores 8.2 under a secondary CVSS source (NVD's own analysis pending). EPSS exploit probability: 0.5% (42nd percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs). No GitHub Security Advisory CVSS is on record for this CVE.

Triggered by: Headline CVSS from a secondary CVSS source
Sources: EPSS, a secondary CVSS source
Elevated
8.2EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixRemediate within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high (the SSVC decision on this page).
  • CISA's Vulnrichment rates exploitation as PoC; EchelonGraph holds no exploit-code reference for it
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0.5%CVSS: 8.2Exploit: No code on recordExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

Elixir protobuf is a pure Elixir implementation of Google Protobuf. From 0.8.0 until 0.16.1, services that decode attacker-controlled protobuf bytes with Protobuf.Decoder can be taken offline when the schema contains a self-referential or cyclic message type. In lib/protobuf/decoder.ex, Protobuf.Decoder.value_for_field/3 handles an embedded?: true field by recursively entering the decode / build_message / handle_value / value_for_field call chain without enforcing a nesting-depth limit. Deeply nested embedded fields retain non-tail recursive frames, allowing a comparatively small request to consume substantial CPU and memory, pin a BEAM scheduler, and exhaust the node. This issue is fixed in version 0.16.1.

CVSS v3
8.2
EG Score
8.2HIGHmedium confidence
EG Risk
68
EG Risk 68/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)
Severity82% × 45%
The EG Score, 8.2 of 10.
Exploitation40% × 40%
EchelonGraph's fixed weight for EG-KEV Tier 3 (Elevated): a constant, not a probability.
Automatability100% × 15%
CISA's SSVC Automatable value: yes (Vulnrichment).
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).
Exploitation public PoC (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.
EPSS PROB
0.5%
EPSS %ILE
42nd
KEV
Not listed

SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.

Exploitation public PoC (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table

BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; 60 days if it is not.

In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it

Published

July 15, 2026

Last Modified

September 24, 2026

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated Sep 17, 2026
Patch available. Sources: github_commit, github.
GitHub commit

commit b8efa97790ee (elixir-protobuf/protobuf)

Fix landed in elixir-protobuf/protobuf commit b8efa97790ee — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/commit/b8efa97790eece3d2d0e8e7c31a45ed409fe5338
GitHub commit

commit 352d1769a0ef (elixir-protobuf/protobuf)

Fix landed in elixir-protobuf/protobuf commit 352d1769a0ef — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/commit/352d1769a0ef575a8d18c3f9620609efdb73e2bc
GitHub advisoryMentions a patch (unverified)

Unbounded recursion depth in embedded-message decoding · Advisory · elixir-protobuf/protobuf · GitHub

https://github.com/elixir-protobuf/protobuf/security/advisories/GHSA-rv48-qqj5-crxg

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-54451(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Affected Packages

(1 across 1 ecosystem)
Hex(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
protobuf0.10.0 ... 0.9.0 (10 versions)
  • 0.8.0 up to 0.16.1: fixed in 0.16.1
—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 11× in last 7d / 35× in last 30d)

Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.

  1. 2026-10-13 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  2. 2026-10-12 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  3. 2026-10-12 15:56 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-10-11 19:39 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-10-11 16:54 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-10-11 14:18 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-10-11 13:49 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  8. 2026-10-10 20:00 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  9. 2026-10-09 20:07 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  10. 2026-10-08 17:12 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  11. 2026-10-07 23:48 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  12. 2026-10-06 15:18 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  13. 2026-10-05 17:43 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  14. 2026-10-04 23:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  15. 2026-10-03 14:26 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  16. 2026-10-02 17:56 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  17. 2026-10-01 19:50 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  18. 2026-10-01 12:38 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-09-30 15:03 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  20. 2026-09-29 15:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  21. 2026-09-28 13:51 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  22. 2026-09-28 08:43 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-09-27 13:48 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  24. 2026-09-26 15:59 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 42nd percentile
  25. 2026-09-24 21:26 UTCEG score recompute
Show 14 more
  1. 2026-09-24 14:04 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.5% · 41st percentile
  2. 2026-09-24 08:48 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-09-23 17:54 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.3% · 23rd percentile
  4. 2026-09-23 03:15 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-09-21 21:17 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-09-20 20:16 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.3% · 23rd percentile
  7. 2026-09-18 19:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.3% · 23rd percentile
  8. 2026-09-17 19:28 UTCEG score recompute
  9. 2026-09-17 18:29 UTCEG score recomputeFirst assessed: 8.2 HIGH
  10. 2026-09-17 18:29 UTCMITRE cvelistV5CVSS v3 → 8.2 · CVSS v4 → 8.2
  11. 2026-08-01 20:44 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-07-26 11:33 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-07-23 03:19 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-07-15 17:54 UTCEG score recompute

Related CVEs(same product + same CWE)

Same product

1 shown

Hex:protobuf

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-54451?
CVE-2026-54451 is a high-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on July 15, 2026. Elixir protobuf is a pure Elixir implementation of Google Protobuf. From 0.8.0 until 0.16.1, services that decode attacker-controlled protobuf bytes with Protobuf.Decoder can be taken offline when the schema contains a self-referential or cyclic message type. In lib/protobuf/decoder.ex,…
When was the CVE record for CVE-2026-54451 published?
The CVE record for CVE-2026-54451 was published on July 15, 2026. That is the record's publication date; the vulnerability itself may have been made public earlier. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of September 24, 2026; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2026-54451 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-54451 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (42nd percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-54451?
CVE-2026-54451 has a CVSS base score of 8.2 (a secondary CVSS source that NVD displays; NVD's own analysis pending).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-54451?
A fix for CVE-2026-54451 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory. The vendor advisories EchelonGraph has for CVE-2026-54451 are linked in the Vendor Advisories panel on this page.

Dependency Blast Radius

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