jq: Unbounded Recursion in jv_setpath(), jv_getpath() and delpaths_sorted() (jqlang jq)
At a glance
- Source
- NVD
- EPSS
- EPSS 0.23 % · percentile 14 ()
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- GitHub_M
- NVD status
- Analyzed
Description
jq is a command-line JSON processor. In versions 1.8.1 and below, functions jv_setpath(), jv_getpath(), and delpaths_sorted() in jq's src/jv_aux.c use unbounded recursion whose depth is controlled by the length of a caller-supplied path array, with no depth limit enforced. An attacker can supply a JSON document containing a flat array of ~65,000 integers (~200 KB) that, when used as a path argument by a trusted jq filter, exhausts the C call stack and crashes the process with a segmentation fault (SIGSEGV). This bypass works because the existing MAX_PARSING_DEPTH (10,000) limit only protects the JSON parser, not runtime path operations where arrays can be programmatically constructed to arbitrary lengths. The impact is denial of service (unrecoverable crash) affecting any application or service that processes untrusted JSON input through jq's setpath, getpath, or delpaths builtins. This issue has been addressed in commit fb59f1491058d58bdc3e8dd28f1773d1ac690a1f.
Weaknesses (CWE)
- CWE-674 — Uncontrolled Recursion
References
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM 6.2 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H | GitHub_M |
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM 6.2 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H | NVD · security-advisories@github.com (Secondary) |
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM 5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H | NVD · nvd@nist.gov (Primary) |
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-22124
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-33947
CERT-FR advisories
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1385 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0463 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Microsoft · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
Affected configurations (NVD CPE)
cpe:2.3:a:jqlang:jq:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*≤ 1.8.1
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| jqlang · jq | affected < fb59f1491058d58bdc3e8dd28f1773d1ac690a1f |
Sources
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5) | CVE Program Terms of Use |
| EPSS (FIRST.org) | FIRST — attribution requested |
| ENISA EUVD | ENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged |
| CERT-FR (ANSSI) | Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0 |
| NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feeds | Public domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD |