CVE-2026-93471

Unbounded SAML message decompression in esaml allows memory exhaustion

Published Oct 22, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 8.7 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) in esaml_binding in dropbox esaml allows an unauthenticated attacker to exhaust server memory and crash the Erlang VM via a crafted compressed SAMLResponse.

esaml_binding:decode_response/2 base64-decodes the attacker-supplied SAMLResponse, inflates it with zlib:unzip/1 with no bound on the output, then converts the result to a charlist with binary_to_list/1 before parsing. This runs on the SAML consume (ACS) and single-logout endpoints, which accept unauthenticated requests by design, and it runs before any signature check. A small deflate stream reaches a compression ratio near 1000 to 1, so a request body of tens of kilobytes inflates to hundreds of megabytes and then to several gigabytes of list heap, so a few requests exhaust memory and take the node down.

This issue affects esaml: from 0.1.0 onward.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Data Amplification) in esaml_binding in dropbox esaml allows an unauthenticated attacker to exhaust server memory and crash the Erlang VM via a crafted compressed SAMLResponse. esaml_binding:decode_response/2 base64-decodes the attacker-supplied SAMLResponse, inflates it with zlib:unzip/1 with no bound on the output, then converts the result to a charlist with binary_to_list/1 before parsing. This runs on the SAML consume (ACS) and single-logout endpoints, which accept unauthenticated requests by design, and it runs before any signature check. A small deflate stream reaches a compression ratio near 1000 to 1, so a request body of tens of kilobytes inflates to hundreds of megabytes and then to several gigabytes of list heap, so a few requests exhaust memory and take the node down. This issue affects esaml: from 0.1.0 onward.
Title Unbounded SAML message decompression in esaml allows memory exhaustion
First Time appeared Arekinath
Arekinath esaml
Dropbox
Dropbox esaml
Handnot2
Handnot2 esaml
Weaknesses CWE-409
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:arekinath:esaml:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:dropbox:esaml:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:handnot2:esaml:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Arekinath
Arekinath esaml
Dropbox
Dropbox esaml
Handnot2
Handnot2 esaml
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
EEF
Published
Updated
Oct 30, 2026, 6:07 PM
Reserved
Oct 6, 2026, 8:45 AM
Status
Deferred
Published
Oct 22, 2026, 9:17 AM
Modified
Oct 30, 2026, 7:20 PM