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TI-2026-15121 Aliases CVE-2026-18401GHSA-72hv-8253-57qq

jackson-core: Number length constraint bypass in non-blocking (async) JSON parser leads to potential denial of service

Priority HIGH 70CWE-770Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · Low
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 21 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-770.

Summary

The non-blocking (asynchronous) JSON parser in jackson-core does not enforce the maxNumberLength constraint defined in StreamReadConstraints (default: 1000 characters). An attacker able to submit JSON to an application that uses the async parser API can supply a number token of arbitrary length, leading to excessive memory allocation and potential CPU exhaustion, resulting in a denial of service. The synchronous parser enforces this limit correctly, so the constraint is applied inconsistently depending on which parsing API the application uses. Root cause: the async parsing path in NonBlockingUtf8JsonParserBase and related classes never invokes the number length validation methods. Number parsing methods such as _finishNumberIntegralPart() accumulate digits into the TextBuffer without any length check, then call _valueComplete() to finalize the token. _valueComplete() does not call resetInt() or resetFloat(), which are the methods in ParserBase where validateIntegerLength() and validateFPLength() are performed. Because that validation step is skipped, maxNumberLength is never enforced on the async code path. Impact: an attacker sending a JSON document containing an arbitrarily long number to an application using the async parser (for example a Spring WebFlux or other reactive application) can cause unbounded allocation in the TextBuffer and an OutOfMemoryError. If the application subsequently calls getBigIntegerValue() or getDecimalValue(), the JVM may additionally be tied up in O(n^2) BigInteger parsing, causing CPU-based denial of service. No privileges or user interaction beyond the ability to submit data for parsing are required. This issue affects com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core from version 2.15.0 through 2.18.5 and from 2.19.0 through 2.21.0, and tools.jackson.core:jackson-core from 3.0.0 through 3.0.x. Versions prior to 2.15.0 are not affected, because StreamReadConstraints -- which defines the maxNumberLength setting -- was first introduced in jackson-core 2.15.0, so no such constraint exists to be bypassed in earlier releases. Note that GHSA-72hv-8253-57qq records the lower bound of the affected 2.x range as 2.0.0.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00408 35th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial jackson-core (FasterXML): 2.18.6, 2.21.1, 3.1.0tools.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven): 3.1.0+1 more productRed Hat: 21 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Poc
Automatable
Yes
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
FasterXMLjackson-core2.15.0 – 2.18.5; 2.19.0 to before 2.21.12.18.6, 2.21.1Patch availableCNA
FasterXMLjackson-core3.0.0 to before 3.1.03.1.0Patch availableCNA
—tools.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven)3.0.0 to before 3.1.03.1.0Patch availableGHSA-72hv-8253-57qq
—com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven)2.19.0 to before 2.21.12.21.1Patch availableGHSA-72hv-8253-57qq
—com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven)2.15.0 to before 2.18.62.18.6Patch availableGHSA-72hv-8253-57qq
  • jackson-core VendorFasterXML Affected 2.15.0 – 2.18.5; 2.19.0 to before 2.21.1 Fixed in 2.18.6, 2.21.1 Patch available CNA
  • jackson-core VendorFasterXML Affected 3.0.0 to before 3.1.0 Fixed in 3.1.0 Patch available CNA
  • tools.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven) Vendor— Affected 3.0.0 to before 3.1.0 Fixed in 3.1.0 Patch available GHSA-72hv-8253-57qq
  • com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven) Vendor— Affected 2.19.0 to before 2.21.1 Fixed in 2.21.1 Patch available GHSA-72hv-8253-57qq
  • com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven) Vendor— Affected 2.15.0 to before 2.18.6 Fixed in 2.18.6 Patch available GHSA-72hv-8253-57qq

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA jackson-core (FasterXML) Fixed in 2.18.6, 2.21.1
  • Fix · CNA jackson-core (FasterXML) Fixed in 3.1.0
  • Fix · GHSA-72hv-8253-57qq tools.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven) Fixed in 3.1.0 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-72hv-8253-57qq com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven) Fixed in 2.21.1 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-72hv-8253-57qq com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core (Maven) Fixed in 2.18.6 Advisory →

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
OpenShift Developer Tools and ServicesAffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
OpenShift ServerlessAffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat AMQ ClientsAffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Build of KeycloakAffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Certificate System 11AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 8AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform Expansion PackAffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat JBoss Web Server 7AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Lightspeed for Runtimes OperatorAffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Offline Knowledge PortalAffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Dev SpacesAffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Satellite 6AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat build of Apache Camel for Spring Boot 4AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat build of Apicurio Registry 3AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat build of Debezium 3AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat build of QuarkusAffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
streams for Apache Kafka 2AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
streams for Apache Kafka 3AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 17 products
  • Cryostat 4
  • OpenShift Developer Tools and Services
  • Red Hat AI Inference Server
  • Red Hat AMQ Broker 7
  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
  • Red Hat Build of Keycloak
  • Red Hat Certificate System 10
  • Red Hat Data Grid 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3
  • Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7
  • Red Hat Satellite 6
  • Red Hat Single Sign-On 7
  • Red Hat build of Apache Camel - HawtIO 4
  • Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 for Quarkus 3

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-18401
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-72hv-8253-57qq

References

  • TI-2017-12774 FasterXML jackson-databind through 2.8.10 and 2.9.x through 2.9.3 allows unauthenticated… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-48269 Resource allocation without limits in FasterXML jackson-core CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
  • TI-2017-05167 Deserialization of untrusted data in FasterXML jackson-databind CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-61988 jackson-databind: quadratic forward-reference completion in Collection and Map deserializers CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2026-61987 jackson-databind: unbounded growth of the type id cache in TypeDeserializerBase retains every unknown raw type ID CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2026-60476 Uncontrolled resource consumption in FasterXML jackson-core CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
See all 107 →

Sources