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CVE-2026-42440: CWE-789: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value in Apache Software Foundation Apache OpenNLP

0
High
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-42440cvecve-2026-42440cwe-789
Published: 05/04/2026 (05/04/2026, 16:40:32 UTC)
Source: CVE Database V5
Vendor/Project: Apache Software Foundation
Product: Apache OpenNLP

Description

OOM Denial of Service via Unbounded Array Allocation in Apache OpenNLP AbstractModelReader  Versions Affected:  before 1.9.5 before 2.5.9 before 3.0.0-M3  Description: The AbstractModelReader methods getOutcomes(), getOutcomePatterns(), and getPredicates() each read a 32-bit signed integer count field from a binary model stream and pass that value directly to an array allocation (new String[numOutcomes], new int[numOCTypes][], new String[NUM_PREDS]) without validating that the value is non-negative or within a reasonable bound. The count is therefore fully attacker-controlled when the model file originates from an untrusted source. A crafted .bin model file in which any of these count fields is set to Integer.MAX_VALUE (or any value large enough to exhaust the available heap) triggers an OutOfMemoryError at the array allocation itself, before the corresponding label or pattern data is consumed from the stream. The error occurs very early in deserialization: for a GIS model, getOutcomes() is reached after only the model-type string, the correction constant, and the correction parameter have been read; so the attacker pays no meaningful size cost to weaponize a payload, and a single small file can crash a JVM that loads it. Any code path that deserializes a .bin model is affected, including direct use of GenericModelReader and any higher-level component that delegates to it during model load. The practical impact is denial of service against processes that load model files from untrusted or semi-trusted origins.   Mitigation: * 2.x users should upgrade to 2.5.9. * 3.x users should upgrade to 3.0.0-M3. Note: The fix introduces an upper bound on each of the three count fields, checked before array allocation; counts that are negative or exceed the bound cause an IllegalArgumentException to be thrown and the read to fail fast with no large allocation. The default bound is 10,000,000, which is well above the entry counts of legitimate OpenNLP models but far below any value that would threaten heap exhaustion. Deployments that legitimately need to load models with more entries than the default can raise the limit at JVM startup by setting the OPENNLP_MAX_ENTRIES system property to the desired positive integer (e.g. -DOPENNLP_MAX_ENTRIES=50000000); invalid or non-positive values fall back to the default. Users who cannot upgrade immediately should treat all .bin model files as untrusted input unless their provenance is verified, and should avoid loading models supplied by end users or fetched from third-party repositories without integrity checks.

CVSS v3.1

Score 7.5high

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected software

org.apache.opennlp/opennlp
pkg:maven/org.apache.opennlp/opennlp
Affected versions
<2.5.9=3.0.0-M3

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AI-Powered Analysis

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AILast updated: 07/30/2026, 21:40:11 UTC

Technical Analysis

The vulnerability in Apache OpenNLP's AbstractModelReader arises because three methods (getOutcomes(), getOutcomePatterns(), getPredicates()) read 32-bit signed integer counts from a binary model stream and use these values directly for array allocations without validating their size or sign. An attacker can craft a .bin model file with extremely large count values (e.g., Integer.MAX_VALUE) causing the JVM to attempt to allocate excessively large arrays, resulting in an OutOfMemoryError and denial of service. This occurs early in deserialization, making exploitation efficient. The vulnerability affects all code paths that deserialize .bin models, including GenericModelReader and higher-level components. The fix, introduced in versions 2.5.9 and 3.0.0-M3, enforces an upper bound (default 10,000,000) on these counts, throwing an IllegalArgumentException if exceeded, preventing large allocations. The limit can be adjusted via the OPENNLP_MAX_ENTRIES system property. Users unable to upgrade immediately should treat all .bin model files as untrusted unless provenance is verified and avoid loading models from untrusted sources without integrity checks.

Potential Impact

This vulnerability enables denial of service by causing the Java Virtual Machine to exhaust heap memory during model deserialization, crashing processes that load untrusted or semi-trusted .bin model files. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity reported. The denial of service can be triggered with a small crafted model file, making it a practical threat to availability of applications using affected OpenNLP versions.

Mitigation Recommendations

Fixed versions are available: users of the 2.x branch should upgrade to Apache OpenNLP 2.5.9 or later, and users of the 3.x branch should upgrade to 3.0.0-M3 or later. The fix enforces upper bounds on array allocation sizes to prevent excessive memory use. For users unable to upgrade immediately, it is recommended to treat all .bin model files as untrusted input unless their provenance is verified and to avoid loading models from untrusted or third-party sources without integrity checks. No vendor advisory indicates that no action is required or that the issue is already mitigated without upgrade.

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Technical Details

Data Version
5.2
Assigner Short Name
apache
Date Reserved
2026-04-27T12:43:14.347Z
Cvss Version
null
State
PUBLISHED
Remediation Level
null
Vendor Advisory Urls
[{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-42440","vendor":"Red Hat"}]

Threat ID: 69f8d219cbff5d86103970b3

Added to database: 05/04/2026, 17:06:33 UTC

Last enriched: 07/30/2026, 21:40:11 UTC

Last updated: 08/01/2026, 07:18:00 UTC

Views: 112

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