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Fencer Vulns
medium 4.3

CVE-2022-3171 json

Memory handling vulnerability in ProtocolBuffers Java core and lite

published 2022-10-04 4 y ago modified 2026-09-10 1 mo ago also GHSA-h4h5-3hr4-j3g2 , EUVD-2022-7102

cvss
4.3
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
1.3%
EPSS 1.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 70%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

A parsing issue with binary data in protobuf-java core and lite versions prior to 3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6 and 3.16.3 can lead to a denial of service attack. Inputs containing multiple instances of non-repeated embedded messages with repeated or unknown fields causes objects to be converted back-n-forth between mutable and immutable forms, resulting in potentially long garbage collection pauses. We recommend updating to the versions mentioned above.

Patch / fix

  • maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • rubygems google-protobuf 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-javalite 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin-lite 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • google google-protobuf 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • google protobuf-java 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • google protobuf-javalite 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • google protobuf-kotlin 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • google protobuf-kotlin-lite 3.16.3, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.21.7
  • protobuf Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 3.21.9-3

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2022-3171

  • protobuf SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP1, SLE Installer Updates 15 SP1, SLES for SAP 15 SP1 +2 more 3.9.2-150100.8.3.3
  • python-psutil SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP1, Enterprise Storage 7, SLES for SAP 15 SP2 +5 more 5.9.1-150100.6.6.3
  • python-requests SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP1, Enterprise Storage 7, SLES for SAP 15 SP2 +5 more 2.25.1-150100.6.13.3
  • grpc SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP1 1.25.0-150100.3.3.3
  • python-avro SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP4, SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP3, SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP2 +1 more 1.11.0-150100.3.3.3
  • python-knack SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5, SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP4, SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP3 +3 more 0.9.0-150100.3.7.3
  • python-pytest SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP2, SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP1 3.10.1-150000.7.5.1
  • azure-cli-core SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5, SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP4, SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP3 +3 more 2.17.1-150100.6.18.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2023:2783-2SUSE-SU-2023:2783-1SUSE-SU-2022:3922-1

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2022-3171 updated cvss 7.5

protobuf-java: timeout in parser leads to DoS

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
18 mo ago

Exploit prediction

1.28% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 70% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 4.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
NVD 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
GitHub 3.1 5.7 CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java
>=3.21.0-rc-1, <3.21.7
>=3.20.0-rc-1, <3.20.3
>=3.17.0-rc-1, <3.19.6
<3.16.3
3.21.7
3.20.3
3.19.6
3.16.3
maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin
>=3.21.0-rc-1, <3.21.7
>=3.20.0-rc-1, <3.20.3
>=3.17.0-rc-1, <3.19.6
<3.16.3
3.21.7
3.20.3
3.19.6
3.16.3
rubygems google-protobuf
>=3.21.0.rc.1, <3.21.7
>=3.20.0.rc.1, <3.20.3
>=3.17.0.rc.1, <3.19.6
<3.16.3
3.21.7
3.20.3
3.19.6
3.16.3
maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-javalite
>=3.21.0-rc-1, <3.21.7
>=3.20.0-rc-1, <3.20.3
>=3.17.0-rc-1, <3.19.6
<3.16.3
3.21.7
3.20.3
3.19.6
3.16.3
maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin-lite
>=3.21.0-rc-1, <3.21.7
>=3.20.0-rc-1, <3.20.3
>=3.17.0-rc-1, <3.19.6
<3.16.3
3.21.7
3.20.3
3.19.6
3.16.3

Affected products

  • Google LLC Protocolbuffers

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-20 Improper Input Validation

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.