GHSA-468c-vq7p-gh64
Fix: elixir-plug/plug@2cb7958GHSA-468c-vq7p-gh64 is a CWE-770 vulnerability in plug. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-468c-vq7p-gh64 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Plug: Unbounded buffer accumulation in multipart header parsing causes denial of service
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-468c-vq7p-gh64.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Real-World Exposure
plug💧plug💧plug💧plug💧plugReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Hex packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
An Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in Plug.Conn.read_part_headers/2 allows an unauthenticated attacker to exhaust server memory by sending a crafted multipart/form-data request, causing a denial of service.
Details
Plug.Conn.read_part_headers/2 in lib/plug/conn.ex does not obey its :length parameter. There is no upper bound on the size of the accumulated buffer. By contrast, the sibling function read_part_body has an explicit byte_size(acc) > length guard that stops accumulation once a limit is reached. No such guard exists in read_part_headers.
Impact
This is a denial-of-service vulnerability. Any application using Plug.Parsers with the :multipart parser, or calling Plug.Conn.read_part_headers/2 directly, is affected. An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger the issue by sending crafted HTTP requests with no special privileges.
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💧Hex | plug | ≥ 1.4.0&&< 1.15.4 | 1.15.4 |
| 💧Hex | plug | ≥ 1.16.0&&< 1.16.3 | 1.16.3 |
| 💧Hex | plug | ≥ 1.17.0&&< 1.17.1 | 1.17.1 |
| 💧Hex | plug | ≥ 1.18.0&&< 1.18.2 | 1.18.2 |
| 💧Hex | plug | ≥ 1.19.0&&< 1.19.2 | 1.19.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for plug. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update plug to 1.15.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-468c-vq7p-gh64 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-468c-vq7p-gh64 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-468c-vq7p-gh64. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-468c-vq7p-gh64 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-468c-vq7p-gh64 across Hex dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.