CVE-2026-118391Unbounded query cache growth from interpolated JSON paths and splice lists in Ecto
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in elixir-ecto ecto allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust memory in the application and in the database server by sending requests with distinct JSON keys or list lengths where the application interpolates them into json_extract_path/2, field[^key] or splice/1. Ecto caches prepared queries per repository in an ETS table with no size limit and no eviction. Interpolated JSON path elements become part of the query expression instead of its parameters, and splice/1 expands into one placeholder per element, so every distinct key or list length creates a new cache entry. With ecto_sql each entry is also a new prepared statement on the database connection that runs it. None of this memory is released until the processes restart. This issue affects ecto: from 3.4.0 before 3.14.3.
Overview
Severity
| Score | Severity | Version | Vector String |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.9 | HIGH | 4.0EEF (CNA) | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H |
Details
- CVE ID
- CVE-2026-118391
- Status
- Received
- Assigner (CNA)
- EEF
- Published
- Nov 4, 2026
- Last modified
- 2026-11-05 19:17 UTC
- Weaknesses
- CWE-770 · Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Affected Products
As published by the CNA in the CVE record.
elixir-ectoecto1 version range
- 3.4.0 before 3.14.3
elixir-ectoecto1 version range
- cb2f03964dac324a9771f84f5088e395326e6de8 before eef014ad090d27d1a5b69c0e32a50eabd44ab3bb
References
- cna.erlef.org https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-118391.html
- ecto.hexdocs.pm https://ecto.hexdocs.pm/Ecto.Query.API.html#json_extract_path/2
- ecto.hexdocs.pm https://ecto.hexdocs.pm/Ecto.Query.API.html#splice/1
- github.com https://github.com/elixir-ecto/ecto/commit/cb2f03964dac324a9771f84f5088e395326e6de8
- github.com https://github.com/elixir-ecto/ecto/commit/d0e97d8a6e274c81c25fbf08087da8d8b9bae0ea
- github.com https://github.com/elixir-ecto/ecto/commit/eb03f45b999e2bf67ffae92811233eb6e56dba55
- github.com https://github.com/elixir-ecto/ecto/commit/eef014ad090d27d1a5b69c0e32a50eabd44ab3bb
- github.com https://github.com/elixir-ecto/ecto/issues/1031
- github.com https://github.com/elixir-ecto/ecto/issues/4470
- github.com https://github.com/elixir-ecto/ecto/security/advisories/GHSA-cxjx-vmm2-qr8r
- osv.dev https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-118391