CVE-2026-59246

Zero-length HTTP/2 CONTINUATION frames bypass Mint's header-block byte-size cap and exhaust client memory

MEDIUM
6.3
CVSS Score
Published: July 14, 2026 at 08:37 AM UTC
Updated: October 24, 2026 at 09:10 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorMint

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Severity
MEDIUM6.3
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.5%
SSVC
PoC

Description

Allocation of resources without limits vulnerability in elixir-mint mint allows a remote HTTP/2 server to exhaust memory on the client host and cause a denial of service. The Mint.HTTP2.handle_continuation/3 function in lib/mint/http2.ex accumulates the header-block fragment carried by each HTTP/2 CONTINUATION frame into a growing conn.headers_being_processed nesting, one level deeper per frame, and only releases it when a frame with the END_HEADERS flag arrives. The only guard on this accumulator is Mint.HTTP2.assert_header_block_within_max_size/2, which sums the byte size of the fragments received so far. Because a CONTINUATION frame is permitted by the protocol to carry a zero-length payload, an unbounded chain of zero-length CONTINUATION frames adds no bytes to the running total, never trips the size cap, and never emits END_HEADERS, yet each frame still nests the accumulator one level deeper. A malicious HTTP/2 server (reachable directly, via an attacker-controlled redirect, via SSRF, or via a man-in-the-middle) can open a stream by sending a HEADERS frame without END_HEADERS and then stream zero-length CONTINUATION frames indefinitely. Client memory grows one cons cell per frame received; sustained bandwidth from the peer drives the BEAM node running the Mint client to memory exhaustion and eventual out-of-memory termination. This issue affects mint: from 0.1.0 before 1.9.2.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

All versions0.1.0596ca4304504be68939c4929e0831557097962b8
Vendor states this is fixed in 5779de1666344b32aefc4354184ea07f902f73ce (fixed)
Affected range stops below 1.9.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (4)

Related
Source: 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-59246.html
Vendor AdvisoryRelated
Source: 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
https://github.com/elixir-mint/mint/security/advisories/GHSA-8pf6-g464-h6h9
Related
Source: 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-59246

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

6.3MEDIUMEEF
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-770

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