CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-43974NVD status: Analyzed

gun: Improper Enforcement of Behavioral Workflow

CVE-2026-43974 is a high-severity improper enforcement of behavioral workflow vulnerability in gun from Ninenines, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 2.4.0, 5b48068c29ce5e112cb149b5857c7d4dc319a81b as the first without the flaw, so updating gun to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.48% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update gun to 2.4.0 or 5b48068c29ce5e112cb149b5857c7d4dc319a81b, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Nineninesgun2.0.0 up to, but not including, 2.4.0; a3c2edbb8c807717e2f10520c6cf1e77a62eab2e up to, but not including, 5b48068c29ce5e112cb149b5857c7d4dc319a81b2.4.0, 5b48068c29ce5e112cb149b5857c7d4dc319a81b

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
NoneNo data is disclosed.
Integrity
NoneNothing can be modified.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. Scored by NVD.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 4.08.7HighCNA
CVSS 3.17.5HighNVD

Official description

Unexpected Status Code or Return Value vulnerability in ninenines gun (gun_http module) allows a malicious HTTP server to force the client into raw protocol mode via an unsolicited 101 Switching Protocols response. In gun_http:handle_inform/8, when a 101 Switching Protocols response is received over HTTP/1.1, the function verifies only that the Upgrade header is syntactically valid and that the stream reference is a plain reference(). It does not check whether the client ever sent an Upgrade or Connection: upgrade header on the corresponding request. Because this check is absent, any 101 response (solicited or not) causes gun to dispatch a gun_upgrade message to the caller and transition the entire connection to raw protocol mode. A malicious or compromised HTTP server can send an unsolicited 101 response to any HTTP/1.1 request, causing the gun client to abandon HTTP framing for that connection. Once in raw mode, gun_raw applies no flow control (flow=infinity) and re-arms socket active mode after every received packet, so the server can flood the client with arbitrary bytes. These are forwarded as unbounded gun_data messages to the owner process, exhausting its mailbox and BEAM memory, ultimately crashing the VM. This issue affects gun: from 2.0.0 before 2.4.0.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Enforcement of Behavioral Workflow

The product supports a session in which more than one behavior must be performed by an actor, but it does not properly ensure that the actor performs the behaviors in the required sequence or timeframe.

More Improper Enforcement of Behavioral Workflow vulnerabilities (CWE-841)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Third-party and government advisories

Other vulnerabilities in gun

All gun vulnerabilities

Recent Improper Enforcement of Behavioral Workflow vulnerabilities

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