CVE-2026-67215
cJSON JSON Patch copy/add Uncontrolled Recursion Stack Exhaustion
Description
cJSON through 1.7.19 is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to stack exhaustion when an untrusted RFC 6902 JSON Patch is applied via cJSONUtils_ApplyPatches() or cJSONUtils_ApplyPatchesCaseSensitive(). A patch containing add and copy operations grafts duplicated subtrees to amplify document depth beyond the parser's nesting limit: cJSON_Delete() recurses with no depth bound, and the cJSON_Duplicate() guard CJSON_CIRCULAR_LIMIT is set to 10000, ten times the parser's 1000-level nesting limit and high enough to overflow a default thread stack. An attacker who can supply the patch document can crash the process, resulting in denial of service.
INFO
Published Date :
July 29, 2026, 2:16 p.m.
Last Modified :
July 29, 2026, 4:17 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 | |||||
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | 83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10 | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | [email protected] | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH | 83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10 | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update cJSON to a patched version.
- Review cJSON usage for potential recursive JSON Patch applications.
- Implement depth limits for JSON Patch operations.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-67215.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-67215 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-67215
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-67215 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-67215 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
CVE Modified by [email protected]
Jul. 29, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Changed Affected [{'vendor': 'DaveGamble', 'product': 'cJSON', 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] [{'vendor': 'DaveGamble', 'product': 'cJSON', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '0', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '1.7.19'}], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] -
CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Jul. 29, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Reference https://joshua.hu/cjson-json-parser-cve-vulnerabilities Added SSVC {'id': 'CVE-2026-67215', 'role': 'CISA Coordinator', 'options': [{'exploitation': 'none'}, {'automatable': 'yes'}, {'technicalImpact': 'partial'}], 'version': '2.0.3', 'timestamp': '2026-07-29T14:32:48.962567Z'} -
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Jul. 29, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'vendor': 'DaveGamble', 'product': 'cJSON', 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] Added Description cJSON through 1.7.19 is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to stack exhaustion when an untrusted RFC 6902 JSON Patch is applied via cJSONUtils_ApplyPatches() or cJSONUtils_ApplyPatchesCaseSensitive(). A patch containing add and copy operations grafts duplicated subtrees to amplify document depth beyond the parser's nesting limit: cJSON_Delete() recurses with no depth bound, and the cJSON_Duplicate() guard CJSON_CIRCULAR_LIMIT is set to 10000, ten times the parser's 1000-level nesting limit and high enough to overflow a default thread stack. An attacker who can supply the patch document can crash the process, resulting in denial of service. Added CVSS V4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Added CWE CWE-674 Added Reference https://github.com/DaveGamble/cJSON/blob/v1.7.19/cJSON.c#L253-L261 Added Reference https://github.com/DaveGamble/cJSON/blob/v1.7.19/cJSON_Utils.c#L906-L940 Added Reference https://joshua.hu/cjson-json-parser-cve-vulnerabilities Added Reference https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/cjson-json-patch-copy-add-uncontrolled-recursion-stack-exhaustion