Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') vulnerability in Erlang OTP stdlib (erl_tar module), hexpm hex_core (hex_erl_tar module), hexpm hex (mix_hex_erl_tar module) and erlang rebar3 (r3_hex_erl_tar module) allows an attacker who supplies a tar archive to cause a denial of service via a crafted GNU sparse member. When erl_tar:extract/1,2 writes a member to disk, erl_tar:stream_to_file_loop/3 reads it in chunks of 65536 bytes by default. For a GNU sparse member whose sparse map ends before its real size, erl_tar:do_sparse_read/3 matches its trailing-hole clause before its zero-length clause. After the chunk is used up, the trailing-hole clause reads zero bytes, does not advance the position, and recurses forever. A 2048-byte archive keeps the extracting process and one scheduler busy until the process is killed. The {max_size, N} option prevents this only when N is below the real size of the member. Extraction with the memory option is not affected. hex_core ships its own copy of erl_tar as hex_erl_tar, and Hex and rebar3 ship hex_core with prefixed module names (mix_hex_erl_tar and r3_hex_erl_tar). These copies contain the same code and do not call stdlib's erl_tar, so they are affected on any OTP version. OTP 28 is not affected, but an application running on OTP 28 is affected if it extracts archives through an affected version of hex_core, Hex or rebar3. This issue affects OTP from OTP 29.0 before OTP 29.1.2, corresponding to rebar3 from 3.27.1 before 3.28.0, and stdlib from 8.0 before 8.1.1, and hex from 2.4.2 before 2.5.3; hex_core: from 0.14.0 before 0.20.1.

The version of FreeBSD installed on the remote host is prior to tested version. It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the 37492489-c8f9-11f1-9ceb-4c526214c986 advisory.

    https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-phm5-m6cj-5382 reports:
    A loop with unreachable exit condition ('infinite loop')               vulnerability in the erl_tar module allowed an attacker who               supplied a tar archive to cause a denial of service via a               crafted GNU sparse member with a trailing hole.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the FreeBSD security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

  - Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') vulnerability in Erlang OTP stdlib (erl_tar     module), hexpm hex_core (hex_erl_tar module), hexpm hex (mix_hex_erl_tar module) and erlang rebar3     (r3_hex_erl_tar module) allows an attacker who supplies a tar archive to cause a denial of service via a     crafted GNU sparse member. When erl_tar:extract/1,2 writes a member to disk, erl_tar:stream_to_file_loop/3     reads it in chunks of 65536 bytes by default. For a GNU sparse member whose sparse map ends before its     real size, erl_tar:do_sparse_read/3 matches its trailing-hole clause before its zero-length clause. After     the chunk is used up, the trailing-hole clause reads zero bytes, does not advance the position, and     recurses forever. A 2048-byte archive keeps the extracting process and one scheduler busy until the     process is killed. The {max_size, N} option prevents this only when N is below the real size of the     member. Extraction with the memory option is not affected. hex_core ships its own copy of erl_tar as     hex_erl_tar, and Hex and rebar3 ship hex_core with prefixed module names (mix_hex_erl_tar and     r3_hex_erl_tar). These copies contain the same code and do not call stdlib's erl_tar, so they are affected     on any OTP version. OTP 28 is not affected, but an application running on OTP 28 is affected if it     extracts archives through an affected version of hex_core, Hex or rebar3. This issue affects OTP from OTP     29.0 before OTP 29.1.2, corresponding to rebar3 from 3.27.1 before 3.28.0, and stdlib from 8.0 before     8.1.1, and hex from 2.4.2 before 2.5.3; hex_core: from 0.14.0 before 0.20.1. (CVE-2026-96596)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Type	Severity
367319	FreeBSD : Erlang/OTP -- erl_tar denial of service via crafted GNU sparse member (37492489-c8f9-11f1-9ceb-4c526214c986)	Nessus	FreeBSD Local Security Checks	Local	medium
366165	Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-96596	Nessus	Misc.	Local	medium

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2026-96596

medium

Tenable Plugins

medium

medium