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Fencer Vulns
medium 5.5

CVE-2026-41256 json

jq: Embedded NUL truncates top-level jq programs loaded with -f

published 2026-05-11 5 mo ago modified 2026-10-26 13 d ago also EUVD-2026-29162

cvss
5.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 4%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

jq is a command-line JSON processor. In 1.8.1 and earlier, Top-level jq programs loaded from a file with -f are truncated at the first embedded NUL byte on current upstream HEAD. A crafted filter file such as . followed by \x00 and arbitrary suffix compiles and executes as only the prefix before the NUL. This leaves jq with a post-CVE-2026-33948 prefix/full-buffer mismatch on the compilation path even though the JSON parser path has already been fixed.

Patch / fix

  • jq Debian 12 1.6-2.1+deb12u2
  • jq Debian 13 1.7.1-6+deb13u3
  • jq Debian 14 1.8.1-6

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-41256

  • jq hummingbird 1 1.8.2-0.1.hum1

red hat advisories RHSA-2026:29986

  • 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 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-2026:22545-1SUSE-SU-2026:22566-1SUSE-SU-2026:22664-1

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

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2026-41256

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 1.7.1-6

azure linux advisories AZL-86384

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-2026-41256 updated cvss 5.5

jq: embedded NUL truncates top-level jq programs loaded with -f

  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 automation-controller, ansible-automation-platform-26/hub-rhel9, ansible-automation-platform-26/controller-rhel9 Red Hat Ceph Storage 4 jq Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 jq Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 jq Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 jq Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8, openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9
    affected: workaround, no fix available “Do not process untrusted filter files using the -f flag with the jq command line JSON processor.”
  • Red Hat Hardened Images jq 1.8.2-0.1.hum1
    fixed: vendor fix “Do not process untrusted filter files using the -f flag with the jq command line JSON processor.” RHSA-2026:29986

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
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
5 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.16% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 4% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/jqlang/jq/security/advisories/GHSA-vf2h-chrj-q3fg referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Affected products

  • jqlang jq

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-158 Improper Neutralization of Null Byte or NUL Character

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.