PowAssent is susceptible to denial of service attacks
Published Nov 25, 2019
6.5
MEDIUMCVSS 3.1
EPSS 1.08%
Description
The use of `String.to_atom/1` in PowAssent is susceptible to denial of service attacks. In `PowAssent.Phoenix.AuthorizationController` a value is fetched from the user provided params, and `String.to_atom/1` is used to convert the binary value to an atom so it can be used to fetch the provider configuration value. This is unsafe as it is user provided data, and can be used to fill up the whole atom table of ~1M which will cause the app to crash.
Affected products
-
- Version < 0.4.4StatusaffectedConstraints<0.4.4
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pow-Auth | Pow Assent | n/a |
|
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Vendor solution
A plug can be used to validate conn.params["provider"] before it reaches the PowAssent.Phoenix.AuthorizationController.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
1 other source (GHSA) ▾
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 3, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
Table of values (11 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2026 | 1.08% (0.01082) | 63.99th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 1.08% (0.01082) | 60.70th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.41% (0.00411) | 59.27th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.07% (0.00070) | 32.66th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.63th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.95% (0.00950) | 32.28th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.67% (0.01669) | 53.27th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 5.55% (0.05553) | 80.10th | v1 |
| Jan 6, 2022 | 5.55% (0.05553) | 79.90th | v1 |
| Jan 5, 2022 | 1.29% (0.01294) | 70.12th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 1.29% (0.01294) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (6)
- http://erlang.org/doc/efficiency_guide/commoncaveats.html#list_to_atom-1 x_refsource_MISCProduct
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5653-437f-5hmc Advisory
- https://github.com/pow-auth/pow_assent/commit/026105eeecc0e3c2f807e7109e745ea93c0fd9cf x_refsource_MISCPatch
- https://github.com/pow-auth/pow_assent/security/advisories/GHSA-368c-xvrv-x986 x_refsource_CONFIRMThird Party Advisory
- https://hex.pm/packages/pow_assent x_refsource_MISCRelease Notes
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-16764
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://erlang.org/doc/efficiency_guide/commoncaveats.html#list_to_atom-1 | x_refsource_MISCProduct | |
| https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5653-437f-5hmc | Advisory | |
| https://github.com/pow-auth/pow_assent/commit/026105eeecc0e3c2f807e7109e745ea93c0fd9cf | x_refsource_MISCPatch | |
| https://github.com/pow-auth/pow_assent/security/advisories/GHSA-368c-xvrv-x986 | x_refsource_CONFIRMThird Party Advisory | |
| https://hex.pm/packages/pow_assent | x_refsource_MISCRelease Notes | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-16764 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.