CVE-2026-45740

protobufjs: Denial of Service via unbounded recursive JSON descriptor expansion

CVSS 3.1 5.3 MEDIUMEUVD CVSS 3.1 5.3 CVSS 3.1 · [email protected] · Secondary 5.3 MEDIUMCVSS 3.1 · [email protected] · Primary 7.5 HIGHCVSS_V3 Publisher rating MODERATEFixed by protobufjs 7.5.8 Fixed by protobufjs 8.2.0KEV status unknown

Original advisory

cve-program · CVE-2026-45740

Published

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.

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euvd · EUVD-2026-30039

Published

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nvd · CVE-2026-45740

Published

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osv · GHSA-jggg-4jg4-v7c6

Published

## Summary 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. ## Impact An attacker who can provide JSON descriptors loaded by an application may be able to crash the process or otherwise cause schema loading to fail with a stack overflow. This affects applications that load JSON descriptors from untrusted sources with affected versions. ## Preconditions - The application must load JSON descriptor data influenced by an attacker. - The crafted descriptor must contain deeply nested `nested` namespace objects. - The affected `Root.fromJSON()` / `Namespace.addJSON()` descriptor expansion path must process the crafted input. ## Workarounds Avoid loading untrusted protobuf JSON descriptors with affected versions. If immediate upgrade is not possible, reject excessively nested descriptor structures at an outer validation boundary where feasible, or isolate descriptor loading in a process that can be safely restarted.

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Affected versions, risk and source history

Exploitation and risk

Source status

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Risk history

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Advisory history

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13 Nov 2026 13:04:52 UTC