Hex release-age cooldown is lifted package-wide when the locked release is retired (hexpm hex)
At a glance
- Source
- NVD
- EPSS
- EPSS 0.36 % · percentile 30 ()
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- EEF
- NVD status
- Deferred
Description
Protection Mechanism Failure vulnerability in hexpm hex allows the owner of a package, or an attacker who has taken over the owner's account, to get a newly published release past the release-age cooldown. The cooldown (cooldown config, HEX_COOLDOWN) withholds versions younger than the configured age during dependency resolution. When the release of a package locked in mix.lock is retired or has a security advisory, Hex.RemoteConverger.build_cooldown_bypass/3 and Hex.RemoteConverger.unsafe_lock_bypass/1 lift the cooldown for every version of that package and of every package the locked release depends on, so that mix deps.update can move off the unsafe release. Retiring a release needs the same package owner permission as publishing one. An attacker who publishes a malicious release can retire the currently locked release, and the next mix deps.update that unlocks the package selects the new release regardless of its age. Hex.Registry.Cooldown.versions/2 checks the bypass by package name alone, so the bypass also covers packages with the same name in other repositories. Cooldown configured through an organization dependency policy is not affected. This issue affects hex: from 2.5.0 before 2.5.2.
Weaknesses (CWE)
- CWE-693 — Protection Mechanism Failure
References
- https://github.com/hexpm/hex/security/advisories/GHSA-pqhp-5x9x-69h7
- https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-105668.html
- https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-105668
- https://github.com/hexpm/hex/commit/b4e665d46be8a5f81e8cbbe4c3a67058a19cf133
- https://github.com/hexpm/hex/commit/eed2bdf85320ae9e244629511c03f5f3f8c5d0b5
- https://github.com/hexpm/hex/commit/1b6fddfeadd98ed26a143f60356efade0494e2ae
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH 7.1 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N | EEF |
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH 7.1 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X | NVD · 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db (Secondary) |
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-97503
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-105668
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| hexpm · hex | affected 2.5.0 < 2.5.2 |
| hexpm · hex | affected b4e665d46be8a5f81e8cbbe4c3a67058a19cf133 < * |
Sources
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5) | CVE Program Terms of Use |
| EPSS (FIRST.org) | FIRST — attribution requested |
| ENISA EUVD | ENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged |
| NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feeds | Public domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD |