protobufjs: Denial of service through unbounded Any expansion during JSON conversion
Priority LOW 39CWE-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: 2 fixed, 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-674.
Summary
protobufjs compiles protobuf definitions into JavaScript (JS) functions. Prior to 7.6.1 and 8.4.1, protobufjs could recurse without a depth limit while converting decoded messages to plain objects or JSON. This affected generated toObject() conversion and the custom google.protobuf.Any JSON conversion path. A crafted protobuf binary payload containing deeply nested Any values could cause the JavaScript call stack to be exhausted during conversion to JSON. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.6.1 and 8.4.1.
Why it matters now
Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.0046 40th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial protobuf.js (protobufjs): 7.6.1, 8.4.1protobufjs (npm): 7.6.1, 8.4.1Red Hat: 3 advisoriesRed Hat: 2 fixed, 2 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 7.6.1; 8.0.0 to before 8.4.1 | 7.6.1, 8.4.1 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | protobufjs (npm) | before 7.6.1 | 7.6.1 | Patch available | GHSA-wcpc-wj8m-hjx6 |
| — | protobufjs (npm) | 8.0.0 to before 8.4.1 | 8.4.1 | Patch available | GHSA-wcpc-wj8m-hjx6 |
- protobuf.js Vendorprotobufjs Affected before 7.6.1; 8.0.0 to before 8.4.1 Fixed in 7.6.1, 8.4.1 Patch available CNA
- protobufjs (npm) Vendor— Affected before 7.6.1 Fixed in 7.6.1 Patch available GHSA-wcpc-wj8m-hjx6
- protobufjs (npm) Vendor— Affected 8.0.0 to before 8.4.1 Fixed in 8.4.1 Patch available GHSA-wcpc-wj8m-hjx6
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:protobufjs_project:protobufjs:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* | before 7.6.1; 8.0.0 to before 8.4.1 | Vulnerable | protobufjs |
- cpe:2.3:a:protobufjs_project:protobufjs:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* Versions before 7.6.1; 8.0.0 to before 8.4.1 Vulnerable ·protobufjs
Remediation
- Fix · CNA protobuf.js (protobufjs) Fixed in 7.6.1, 8.4.1
- Fix · GHSA-wcpc-wj8m-hjx6 protobufjs (npm) Fixed in 7.6.1 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-wcpc-wj8m-hjx6 protobufjs (npm) Fixed in 8.4.1 Advisory →
Red Hat 3 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-2026:52768 Released 2026-08-10 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Developer Hub 1.9.8 release.
- Red Hat Developer Hub 1.9 registry.redhat.io/rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Developer Hub 1.9 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:52768 |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:60520, RHSA-2026:84734 |
Not affected: 13 products
- Cryostat 4
- OpenShift Pipelines
- OpenShift Service Mesh 3
- Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
- Red Hat Build of Podman Desktop
- Red Hat Ceph Storage 9
- Red Hat Developer Hub 1.9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Hardened Images
- Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4
- Self-service automation portal 2
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-48712
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-wcpc-wj8m-hjx6
- 2026-10-20 Fix available: RHSA-2026:84734 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 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-2026-32261 protobufjs: Process-wide denial of service through unsafe option paths CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-48712 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-48712 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-wcpc-wj8m-hjx6 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-48712 · 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