protobufjs: Denial of Service via unbounded recursive JSON descriptor expansion
Priority LOW 38CWE-674Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 6 fixed, 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-674.
Summary
protobufjs compiles protobuf definitions into JavaScript (JS) functions. Prior to 7.5.8 and 8.2.0, protobufjs could recurse without a depth limit while expanding nested JSON descriptors through Root.fromJSON() and Namespace.addJSON(). A crafted JSON descriptor with deeply nested namespace definitions could cause the JavaScript call stack to be exhausted during descriptor loading. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.5.8 and 8.2.0.
Why it matters now
Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00263 18th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial protobuf.js (protobufjs): 7.5.8, 8.2.0protobufjs (npm): 7.5.8, 8.2.0Red Hat: 9 advisoriesRed Hat: 6 fixed, 4 without a fix
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- 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
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| protobufjs | protobuf.js | before 7.5.8; 8.0.0 to before 8.2.0 | 7.5.8, 8.2.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | protobufjs (npm) | before 7.5.8 | 7.5.8 | Patch available | GHSA-jggg-4jg4-v7c6 |
| — | protobufjs (npm) | 8.0.0 to before 8.2.0 | 8.2.0 | Patch available | GHSA-jggg-4jg4-v7c6 |
- protobuf.js Vendorprotobufjs Affected before 7.5.8; 8.0.0 to before 8.2.0 Fixed in 7.5.8, 8.2.0 Patch available CNA
- protobufjs (npm) Vendor— Affected before 7.5.8 Fixed in 7.5.8 Patch available GHSA-jggg-4jg4-v7c6
- protobufjs (npm) Vendor— Affected 8.0.0 to before 8.2.0 Fixed in 8.2.0 Patch available GHSA-jggg-4jg4-v7c6
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:protobufjs_project:protobufjs:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* | before 7.5.8; 8.0.0 to before 8.2.0 | Vulnerable | protobufjs |
- cpe:2.3:a:protobufjs_project:protobufjs:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* Versions before 7.5.8; 8.0.0 to before 8.2.0 Vulnerable ·protobufjs
Remediation
- Fix · CNA protobuf.js (protobufjs) Fixed in 7.5.8, 8.2.0
- Fix · GHSA-jggg-4jg4-v7c6 protobufjs (npm) Fixed in 7.5.8 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-jggg-4jg4-v7c6 protobufjs (npm) Fixed in 8.2.0 Advisory →
Red Hat 9 advisories
- RHSA-2026:84734 Released 2026-10-19 · Red Hat rating CriticalRHOAI 3.4.5 - Red Hat OpenShift AI
- Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-ai-gateway-payload-processing-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-automl-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-autorag-rhel9 +47
- RHSA-2026:60520 Released 2026-08-27 · Red Hat rating CriticalRHOAI 3.4.4 - Red Hat OpenShift AI
- Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-automl-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-autorag-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-built-in-detector-rhel9 +47
- RHSA-2026:57590 Released 2026-08-20 · Red Hat rating Importantrh-podman-desktop security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extensions Channel (v. 10) rh-podman-desktop-1.1.2-1.el10_2
Show 6 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2026:51162 Released 2026-08-06 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.2 security update
- Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.2 registry.redhat.io/ansible-automation-platform/bootc-automation-portal-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:49642 Released 2026-08-03 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Developer Hub 1.10.3 release.
- Red Hat Developer Hub 1.10 registry.redhat.io/rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhdh/rhdh-rhel9-operator
- RHSA-2026:48151 Released 2026-07-29 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat build of Cryostat security update
- Cryostat 4 on RHEL 9 cryostat/cryostat-grafana-dashboard-rhel9, cryostat/cryostat-openshift-console-plugin-rhel9, cryostat/cryostat-reports-rhel9 +4
- RHSA-2026:48126 Released 2026-07-29 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Developer Hub 1.10.3 Plugin Catalog GA plugins release.
- Red Hat Developer Hub 1.10 registry.redhat.io/rhdh/red-hat-developer-hub-backstage-plugin-lightspeed, registry.redhat.io/rhdh/red-hat-developer-hub-backstage-plugin-lightspeed-backend, registry.redhat.io/rhdh/red-hat-developer-hub-backstage-plugin-orchestrator +4
- RHSA-2026:42815 Released 2026-07-21 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.2 security update
- Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.2 registry.redhat.io/ansible-automation-platform/automation-portal
- RHSA-2026:41929 Released 2026-07-20 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Developer Hub 1.9.7 release.
- Red Hat Developer Hub 1.9 registry.redhat.io/rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhdh/rhdh-rhel9-operator
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| OpenShift Pipelines | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Build of Podman Desktop | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Ceph Storage 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Cryostat 4 on RHEL 9 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:48151 |
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.2 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:42815, RHSA-2026:51162 |
| Red Hat Developer Hub 1.10 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:48126, RHSA-2026:49642 |
| Red Hat Developer Hub 1.9 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:41929 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extensions Channel (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:57590 |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:60520, RHSA-2026:84734 |
Not affected: 13 products
- Cryostat 4 on RHEL 9
- OpenShift Pipelines
- OpenShift Service Mesh 3
- Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
- Red Hat Developer Hub 1.10
- Red Hat Developer Hub 1.9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Hardened Images
- Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)
- Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
- Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-45740
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-jggg-4jg4-v7c6
- 2026-10-20 Fix available: RHSA-2026:84734 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-31 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More Protobufjs vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-29851 protobufjs has an arbitrary code execution issue CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.4
- TI-2023-18481 "protobuf.js (aka protobufjs) 6.10.0 through 7.x before 7.2.5 allows Prototype Pollution… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-32260 protobufjs: Denial of service through unbounded protobuf recursion CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2022-09438 Prototype pollution in protobufjs CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-42691 protobufjs: Denial of Service via infinite loop in .proto option parsing CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-35993 protobufjs: Denial of service through unbounded Any expansion during JSON conversion CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-45740 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-45740 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-jggg-4jg4-v7c6 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-45740 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences