A potential Denial of Service issue in protobuf-java
Summary
A potential Denial of Service issue in protobuf-java was discovered in the parsing procedure for binary data.
Reporter: OSS-Fuzz
Affected versions: All versions of Java Protobufs (including Kotlin and JRuby) prior to the versions listed below. Protobuf "javalite" users (typically Android) are not affected.
Severity
CVE-2021-22569 High - CVSS Score: 7.5, An implementation weakness in how unknown fields are parsed in Java. A small (~800 KB) malicious payload can occupy the parser for several minutes by creating large numbers of short-lived objects that cause frequent, repeated GC pauses.
Proof of Concept
For reproduction details, please refer to the oss-fuzz issue that identifies the specific inputs that exercise this parsing weakness.
Remediation and Mitigation
Please update to the latest available versions of the following packages:
- protobuf-java (3.16.1, 3.18.2, 3.19.2)
- protobuf-kotlin (3.18.2, 3.19.2)
- google-protobuf [JRuby gem only] (3.19.2)
Affected software
Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.
| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java | < 3.16.1, >= 3.18.0, < 3.18.2, >= 3.19.0, < 3.19.2 | 3.16.1, 3.18.2, 3.19.2 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin | >= 3.18.0, < 3.18.2, >= 3.19.0, < 3.19.2 | 3.18.2, 3.19.2 |
References
- https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/security/advisories/GHSA-wrvw-hg22-4m67
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22569
- https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=39330
- https://cloud.google.com/support/bulletins#gcp-2022-001
- https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/01/12/4
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/01/12/7
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-696- Platform
- Java / Kotlin (Maven)
- Package
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java, com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin- Disclosed
- 07.01.2022
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 13:19
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-wrvw-hg22-4m67 - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java
All published vulnerabilities of this package (Java / Kotlin (Maven)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.
- Total entries
- 6
- First → latest
- 01.2022 09.2024
- Without a fix
- 0
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- High 5
- Medium 1
Disclosures per year
- 2022: 5
- 2023: 0
- 2024: 1
- 2025: 0
- 2026: 0
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