Denial of service in CBOR library
Impact
Due to this library's use of an inefficient algorithm, it is vulnerable to a denial of service attack when a maliciously crafted input is passed to DecodeFromBytes or other CBOR decoding mechanisms in this library.
Affected versions include versions 4.0.0 through 4.5.0.
This vulnerability was privately reported to me.
Patches
This issue has been fixed in version 4.5.1. Users should use the latest version of this library. (The latest version is not necessarily 4.5.1. Check the README for this library's repository to see the latest version's version number.)
Workarounds
Again, users should use the latest version of this library.
In the meantime, note that the inputs affected by this issue are all CBOR maps or contain CBOR maps. An input that decodes to a single CBOR object is not capable of containing a CBOR map if—
- it begins with a byte other than 0x80 through 0xDF, or
- it does not contain a byte in the range 0xa0 through 0xBF.
Such an input is not affected by this vulnerability and an application can choose to perform this check before passing it to a CBOR decoding mechanism.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in the CBOR repository.
Affected software
Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.
| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | com.upokecenter:cbor | >= 4.0.0, < 4.5.1 | 4.5.1 |
References
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-407- Platform
- Java / Kotlin (Maven)
- Package
com.upokecenter:cbor- Disclosed
- 21.01.2022
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 12:22
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-fj2w-wfgv-mwq6 - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: com.upokecenter:cbor
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
- 2
- First → latest
- 07.2020 01.2022
- Without a fix
- 0
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- High 2
Disclosures per year
- 2020: 1
- 2021: 0
- 2022: 1
- 2023: 0
- 2024: 0
- 2025: 0
- 2026: 0
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Denial of service in CBOR library this entry
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