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Fencer Vulns
high 7.5

CVE-2026-40164 json

jq: Algorithmic complexity DoS via hardcoded MurmurHash3 seed

published 2026-04-13 6 mo ago modified 2026-10-26 13 d ago also EUVD-2026-22164

cvss
7.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 30%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

jq is a command-line JSON processor. Before commit 0c7d133c3c7e37c00b6d46b658a02244fdd3c784, jq used MurmurHash3 with a hardcoded, publicly visible seed (0x432A9843) for all JSON object hash table operations, which allowed an attacker to precompute key collisions offline. By supplying a crafted JSON object (~100 KB) where all keys hashed to the same bucket, hash table lookups degraded from O(1) to O(n), turning any jq expression into an O(n²) operation and causing significant CPU exhaustion. This affected common jq use cases such as CI/CD pipelines, web services, and data processing scripts, and was far more practical to exploit than existing heap overflow issues since it required only a small payload. This issue has been patched in commit 0c7d133c3c7e37c00b6d46b658a02244fdd3c784.

Patch / fix

  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 0:1.7.1-11.el10_1.0.2, 0:1.7.1-11.el10_2.2
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support 0:1.7.1-8.el10_0.3
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 0:1.6-12.el8_10
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support 0:1.5-12.el8_4.5
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On 0:1.5-12.el8_4.5
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support 0:1.6-3.el8_6.2
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Telecommunications Update Service 0:1.6-3.el8_6.2
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.6-3.el8_6.2
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service 0:1.6-6.el8_8.4
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.6-6.el8_8.4
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 0:1.6-19.el9_7.0.2, 0:1.6-19.el9_8.2
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.6-12.el9_0.3
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.6-15.el9_2.3
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support 0:1.6-16.el9_4.2
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support 0:1.6-17.el9_6.4
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 412.86.202606140301-0
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 413.92.202606160406-0
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 414.92.202606231112-0
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 415.92.202606030318-0
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 416.94.202606051757-0
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 417.94.202606250942-0
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 418.94.202606051320-0
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19 4.19.9.6.202606031700-0
  • Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.2 1780681984
  • Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.3 1782352847, 1782352919, 1782352950, 1782353093
  • Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images 1.8.1-3.hum1
  • jq Debian 12 1.6-2.1+deb12u2
  • jq Debian 13 1.7.1-6+deb13u2
  • jq Debian 14 1.8.1-5

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-40164

  • jq Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 1.6-2.1ubuntu3.2
  • jq Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 1.7.1-3ubuntu0.24.04.2
  • jq Ubuntu 25.10 1.8.1-3ubuntu1.1
  • jq Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 1.8.1-4ubuntu2
  • jq Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 1.5+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1+esm4
  • jq Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS 1.5+dfsg-2ubuntu0.1~esm3
  • jq Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS 1.6-1ubuntu0.20.04.1+esm2

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-40164

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • jq RHEL 9 1.6-19.el9_8.2
  • jq RHEL 10.2 1.7.1-11.el10_2.2
  • jq RHEL 9 1.6-19.el9_7.0.2
  • jq RHEL 10.1 1.7.1-11.el10_1.0.2
  • jq RHEL 8 1.6-12.el8_10
  • jq hummingbird 1 1.8.1-3.hum1
  • jq RHEL 8.6 TUS, RHEL 8.6 E4S, RHEL 8.6 AUS 1.6-3.el8_6.2
  • jq RHEL 8.4 EUS_LONG_LIFE, RHEL 8.4 AUS 1.5-12.el8_4.5

red hat advisories RHSA-2026:19365RHSA-2026:19151RHSA-2026:18047RHSA-2026:18048RHSA-2026:18045RHSA-2026:18046

  • jq SLES for SAP 15 SP6, SLES for SAP 15 SP5, SLES for SAP 15 SP4 +11 more 1.7.1-150000.3.25.1
  • jq Linux Micro 6.0 1.7.1-1.1
  • jq SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7, SLE Micro 5.5, SLE Micro 5.4 +1 more 1.6-150000.3.20.1
  • jq Linux Micro 6.0 1.6-6.1
  • jq SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 1.7.1-160000.3.1
  • jq Linux Micro 6.1 1.7.1-slfo.1.1_3.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:4275-1SUSE-SU-2026:23873-1SUSE-SU-2026:2983-1SUSE-SU-2026:22705-1SUSE-SU-2026:22545-1SUSE-SU-2026:22566-1

  • jq openSUSE Leap 16.0 1.7.1-160000.3.1
  • jq openSUSE Tumbleweed 1.8.1-3.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:21248-1openSUSE-SU-2026:10850-1

  • jq AlmaLinux 10 1.7.1-11.el10_2.2
  • jq AlmaLinux 9 1.6-19.el9_8.2
  • jq AlmaLinux 10 1.7.1-11.el10_1.0.2
  • jq AlmaLinux 9 1.6-19.el9_7.0.2
  • jq AlmaLinux 8 1.6-12.el8_10

almalinux advisories ALSA-2026:19151ALSA-2026:19365ALSA-2026:16692ALSA-2026:16693ALSA-2026:16252

  • jq Rocky Linux 10 1.7.1-11.el10_2.2
  • jq Rocky Linux 9 1.6-19.el9_8.2
  • jq Rocky Linux 8 1.6-12.el8_10
  • jq Rocky Linux 10 1.7.1-11.el10_1.0.2
  • jq Rocky Linux 9 1.6-19.el9_7.0.2

rocky linux advisories RLSA-2026:19151RLSA-2026:19365RLSA-2026:16252RLSA-2026:16692RLSA-2026:16693

  • jq Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 1.8.2-r0

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2026-40164

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • jq Azure Linux 3.0 1.7.1-5

azure linux advisories AZL-82934

Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT

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-2026-40164 updated cvss 7.5

jq: jq: Denial of Service via crafted JSON object causing hash collisions

  • Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.2 rhaiis/model-opt-cuda-rhel9 1780681984
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:25096
  • Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.3 rhaiis/vllm-cuda-rhel9 1782352847, rhaiis/vllm-rocm-rhel9 1782353093, rhaiis/vllm-spyre-rhel9 1782352919, rhaiis/model-opt-cuda-rhel9 1782352950
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:30078
  • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v.9.4) jq-devel 1.6-16.el9_4.2, jq-debuginfo 1.6-16.el9_4.2, jq-debugsource 1.6-16.el9_4.2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18043
  • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v.9.6) jq-devel 1.6-17.el9_6.4, jq-debuginfo 1.6-17.el9_6.4, jq-debugsource 1.6-17.el9_6.4
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18042
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) jq 1.6-12.el8_10
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:16252
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v.8.4) jq 1.5-12.el8_4.5
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18048
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v.8.6) jq 1.6-3.el8_6.2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.8.6) jq 1.6-3.el8_6.2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18047
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.8.8) jq 1.6-6.el8_8.4
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18046
show 24 more
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.9.0) jq 1.6-12.el9_0.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18045
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.9.2) jq 1.6-15.el9_2.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18044
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS EXTENSION (v.8.4) jq 1.5-12.el8_4.5
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18048
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream TUS (v.8.6) jq 1.6-3.el8_6.2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18047
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream TUS (v.8.8) jq 1.6-6.el8_8.4
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18046
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) jq 1.6-19.el9_8.2, jq 1.6-19.el9_7.0.2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:16693
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) jq 1.7.1-11.el10_2.2, jq 1.7.1-11.el10_1.0.2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:16692
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v. 10.0) jq 1.7.1-8.el10_0.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18040
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v.9.4) jq 1.6-16.el9_4.2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18043
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v.9.6) jq 1.6-17.el9_6.4
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18042
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) jq-devel 1.6-19.el9_8.2, jq-devel 1.6-19.el9_7.0.2, jq-debuginfo 1.6-19.el9_8.2, jq-debuginfo 1.6-19.el9_7.0.2, jq-debugsource 1.6-19.el9_8.2, jq-debugsource 1.6-19.el9_7.0.2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:16693
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) jq-devel 1.7.1-11.el10_2.2, jq-devel 1.7.1-11.el10_1.0.2, jq-debuginfo 1.7.1-11.el10_2.2, jq-debuginfo 1.7.1-11.el10_1.0.2, jq-debugsource 1.7.1-11.el10_2.2, jq-debugsource 1.7.1-11.el10_1.0.2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:16692
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v. 10.0) jq-devel 1.7.1-8.el10_0.3, jq-debuginfo 1.7.1-8.el10_0.3, jq-debugsource 1.7.1-8.el10_0.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18040
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) jq-devel 1.6-12.el8_10, jq-debuginfo 1.6-12.el8_10, jq-debugsource 1.6-12.el8_10
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:16252
  • Red Hat Hardened Images jq 1.8.1-3.hum1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:8579
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 rhai/base-image-neuron-rhel9 1790703542
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:74674
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 rhcos 412.86.202606140301
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:26528
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 rhcos 413.92.202606160406
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:26542
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 rhcos 414.92.202606231112
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:28887
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 rhcos 415.92.202606030318
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:23233
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 rhcos 416.94.202606051757
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:25044
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 rhcos 417.94.202606250942
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:34098
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 rhcos 418.94.202606051320
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:25181
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19 rhcos 4.19.9.6.202606031700
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:23245

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
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
6 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.37% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 30% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CISA ADP 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected products

  • jqlang jq
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Telecommunications Update Service
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Update Services for SAP Solutions
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19
  • Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.2
  • Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.3
  • Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-328 Use of Weak Hash
  • CWE-407 Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity
  • CWE-341 Predictable from Observable State

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.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.