Medium severity · published Oct 23, 2026
CVE-2026-105963
Secret key base exposed in stack trace arguments on wrong-typed Plug.Crypto arguments
New
5.1
CVSS
0.5%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Externally-Generated Error Message Containing Sensitive Information vulnerability in plug_crypto in elixir-plug plug_crypto allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to expose the secret key base through application logs via a wrong-typed argument. Every public function in Plug.Crypto validates argument types in a function-head guard. A failed guard makes the Erlang VM raise FunctionClauseError with the actual argument values in the top stack frame, so the secret key base, a derived key, or the value an API key is compared against lands in that frame. The library's rescue blocks and Plug.Crypto.prune_args_from_stacktrace/1 only reach exceptions raised inside a function body, so they never see a guard failure. Plug.Cowboy and Bandit write the frame to the error log and attach it as crash_reason Logger metadata, which error trackers forward.
Two entry points take request data. Plug.Crypto.verify/4 exposes the secret key base when the token is neither a binary nor nil, which Phoenix.Token.verify/4 reaches because it forwards the token unguarded. Plug.Crypto.secure_compare/2 exposes the other operand when one side is not a binary, as happens when a missing request header yields nil. Reading the leaked value needs separate access to the logs or the error tracker, so the request alone does not disclose the secret to the attacker.
This issue affects plug: from 1.6.3 before 1.7.0; plug_crypto: from 1.0.0 before 2.2.1.
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.5% · higher than 43% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
PL
plug · elixir-plug
1.6.3 before 1.7.0; 56000c33d8a0a2fbac491f8be06b9c5112bc2276 · source: vendor
PL
plug_crypto · elixir-plug
1.0.0 before 2.2.1; 2d078b7b8264c565f0ff71235c515f4f46882dcf before 981887493dada0fce7003c61861c00dfbb0fc8c5 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-105963
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-105963
cna.erlef.org
https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-105963.html
github.com
https://github.com/elixir-plug/plug/commit/56000c33d8a0a2fbac491f8be06b9c5112bc2276
github.com
https://github.com/elixir-plug/plug/commit/aeaa90e76b73ea90c3ecca9aae16fce71bd2a8d4
github.com
https://github.com/elixir-plug/plug/security/advisories/GHSA-ffw9-w85g-f2vh
github.com
https://github.com/elixir-plug/plug_crypto/commit/2d078b7b8264c565f0ff71235c515f4f46882dcf
github.com
https://github.com/elixir-plug/plug_crypto/commit/981887493dada0fce7003c61861c00dfbb0fc8c5
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