CVE-2025-5472VulnerabilityPublished 7 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-5472: run-llama/llama_index · Uncontrolled Recursion

Affects run-llama/llama_indexSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium : upgrade to 0.12.38 when convenient.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.0 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 32% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 0.12.38

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 7 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade run-llama/llama_index to 0.12.38.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
run-llama run-llama/llama_index	Affected >=0.12.28 <0.12.38	Fixed in 0.12.38

AI-suggested

European organizations should promptly upgrade run-llama/llama_index to version 0.12.38 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed. Until the upgrade is applied, implement input validation to limit the depth of JSON structures accepted by applications using this library. Employ application-layer firewalls or JSON schema validators that reject excessively nested JSON payloads. Monitor application logs for RecursionError or stack overflow exceptions indicative of exploitation attempts. Consider sandboxing or isolating JSON parsing components to contain potential crashes and prevent cascading failures. Educate developers on safe recursion practices and encourage use of iterative parsing techniques or libraries with built-in depth limits. For critical systems, conduct penetration testing to verify resilience against deeply nested JSON inputs. Maintain an inventory of all applications and services using run-llama/llama_index to ensure comprehensive patching. Finally, implement rate limiting and anomaly detection on endpoints accepting JSON input to reduce attack surface.

Description

The JSONReader in run-llama/llama_index versions 0.12.28 is vulnerable to a stack overflow due to uncontrolled recursive JSON parsing. This vulnerability allows attackers to trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by submitting deeply nested JSON structures, leading to a RecursionError and crashing applications. The root cause is the unsafe recursive traversal design and lack of depth validation, which makes the JSONReader susceptible to stack overflow when processing deeply nested JSON. This impacts the availability of services, making them unreliable and disrupting workflows. The issue is resolved in version 0.12.38.

Impact

For European organizations using run-llama/llama_index version 0.12.28 or earlier, this vulnerability poses a risk to service availability. Applications relying on this library for JSON parsing could be disrupted by attackers submitting maliciously crafted deeply nested JSON data, causing crashes and denial of service. This can interrupt business workflows, degrade user experience, and potentially lead to operational downtime. Sectors with high reliance on automated data processing, such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, may face increased operational risk. While the vulnerability does not allow data breaches or integrity violations, the availability impact can indirectly affect compliance with regulations like GDPR if service interruptions lead to failure in meeting service level agreements or data processing obligations. Additionally, organizations exposed to internet-facing services that accept JSON input are more vulnerable to remote exploitation attempts. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits following public disclosure.

CWE-674Uncontrolled Recursion (opens in a new tab)
Class weakness
The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.
Implementation
Ensure that an end condition will be reached under all logic conditions. The end condition may include checking against the depth of recursion and exiting with an error if the recursion goes too deep. The complexity of the end condition contributes to the effectiveness of this action.
Implementation
Increase the stack size.
Attack patterns
Serialized Data with Nested Payloads (opens in a new tab)
Oversized Serialized Data Payloads (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Jul 2025, 10:26 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-674

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats