Envoy: Stack overflow in destructor of highly nested JSON
Priority HIGH 72CWE-1124Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 fixed, 1 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
Envoy is an open source edge and service proxy designed for cloud-native applications. Prior to 1.35.11, 1.36.7, 1.37.3, and 1.38.1, destructor of JSON Object results in stack overflow when deeply O(100K) nested objects are present. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.35.11, 1.36.7, 1.37.3, and 1.38.1.
Why it matters now
Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00557 46th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Partial envoy (envoyproxy): 1.38.1, 1.37.3, 1.36.7 +1Red Hat: 4 advisoriesRed Hat: 4 fixed, 1 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
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| envoyproxy | envoy | 1.38.0 to before 1.38.1; 1.37.0 to before 1.37.3; 1.36.0 to before 1.36.7; before 1.35.11 | 1.38.1, 1.37.3, 1.36.7, 1.35.11 | Patch available | CNA |
- envoy Vendorenvoyproxy Affected 1.38.0 to before 1.38.1; 1.37.0 to before 1.37.3; 1.36.0 to before 1.36.7; before 1.35.11 Fixed in 1.38.1, 1.37.3, 1.36.7, 1.35.11 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 1.18.0 to before 1.35.13; 1.36.0 to before 1.36.9; 1.37.0 to before 1.37.5; 1.38.0 to before 1.38.3 | Vulnerable | envoyproxy |
- cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.18.0 to before 1.35.13; 1.36.0 to before 1.36.9; 1.37.0 to before 1.37.5; 1.38.0 to before 1.38.3 Vulnerable ·envoyproxy
Remediation
- Fix · CNA envoy (envoyproxy) Fixed in 1.38.1, 1.37.3, 1.36.7, 1.35.11
Red Hat 4 advisories
- RHSA-2026:49765 Released 2026-08-03 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.3.6
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.3 registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-cni-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-pilot-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-proxyv2-rhel9 +1
- RHSA-2026:49744 Released 2026-08-03 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.2.8
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.2 registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-cni-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-pilot-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-proxyv2-rhel9 +1
- RHSA-2026:49729 Released 2026-08-03 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.1.11
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.1 registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-cni-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-pilot-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-proxyv2-rhel9 +1
Show 1 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2026:49705 Released 2026-08-03 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.0.14
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.0 registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-cni-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-pilot-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-proxyv2-rhel9 +1
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| OpenShift Service Mesh 2 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.0 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:49705 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.1 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:49729 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.2 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:49744 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.3 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:49765 |
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.0
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.1
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.2
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.3
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-48042
References
More envoyproxy Envoy vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-79288 Out-of-bounds write in Google Brotli decoder KEVCVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.2
- TI-2023-23979 The HTTP/2 protocol allows a denial of service (server resource consumption) because… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-20001 HTTP/2: CPU exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-18524 HTTP/2: memory exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-12215 Envoy client may fake the header `x-envoy-original-path` CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2023-18002 Envoy vulnerable to OAuth2 credentials exploit with permanent validity CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-48042 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-48042 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-48042 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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