CVE-2026-67215: Uncontrolled Recursion in DaveGamble cJSON
cJSON through 1.7.19 is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to stack exhaustion when an untrusted RFC 6902 JSON Patch is applied via cJSONUtils_ApplyPatches() or cJSONUtils_ApplyPatchesCaseSensitive(). A patch containing add and copy operations grafts duplicated subtrees to amplify document depth beyond the parser's nesting limit: cJSON_Delete() recurses with no depth bound, and the cJSON_Duplicate() guard CJSON_CIRCULAR_LIMIT is set to 10000, ten times the parser's 1000-level nesting limit and high enough to overflow a default thread stack. An attacker who can supply the patch document can crash the process, resulting in denial of service.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
cJSON through version 1.7.19 is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion caused by applying untrusted JSON Patch documents that use add and copy operations to duplicate subtrees. This manipulation increases the document's depth beyond the parser's nesting limit. The cJSON_Delete() function recurses without a depth bound, and the cJSON_Duplicate() function's circular reference guard (CJSON_CIRCULAR_LIMIT) is set to 10000, which is significantly higher than the parser's 1000-level nesting limit. This mismatch allows stack exhaustion and a denial of service condition when processing crafted patches via cJSONUtils_ApplyPatches() or cJSONUtils_ApplyPatchesCaseSensitive().
Potential Impact
An attacker able to supply a malicious RFC 6902 JSON Patch document can cause the affected application to crash due to stack exhaustion, resulting in denial of service. There is no indication of privilege escalation or data disclosure. The vulnerability affects unauthenticated remote attackers as no privileges or user interaction are required.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, avoid applying untrusted JSON Patch documents using cJSONUtils_ApplyPatches() or cJSONUtils_ApplyPatchesCaseSensitive().
CVE-2026-67215: Uncontrolled Recursion in DaveGamble cJSON
Description
cJSON through 1.7.19 is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to stack exhaustion when an untrusted RFC 6902 JSON Patch is applied via cJSONUtils_ApplyPatches() or cJSONUtils_ApplyPatchesCaseSensitive(). A patch containing add and copy operations grafts duplicated subtrees to amplify document depth beyond the parser's nesting limit: cJSON_Delete() recurses with no depth bound, and the cJSON_Duplicate() guard CJSON_CIRCULAR_LIMIT is set to 10000, ten times the parser's 1000-level nesting limit and high enough to overflow a default thread stack. An attacker who can supply the patch document can crash the process, resulting in denial of service.
CVSS v4.0
Score 8.7high
Affected software
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AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
cJSON through version 1.7.19 is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion caused by applying untrusted JSON Patch documents that use add and copy operations to duplicate subtrees. This manipulation increases the document's depth beyond the parser's nesting limit. The cJSON_Delete() function recurses without a depth bound, and the cJSON_Duplicate() function's circular reference guard (CJSON_CIRCULAR_LIMIT) is set to 10000, which is significantly higher than the parser's 1000-level nesting limit. This mismatch allows stack exhaustion and a denial of service condition when processing crafted patches via cJSONUtils_ApplyPatches() or cJSONUtils_ApplyPatchesCaseSensitive().
Potential Impact
An attacker able to supply a malicious RFC 6902 JSON Patch document can cause the affected application to crash due to stack exhaustion, resulting in denial of service. There is no indication of privilege escalation or data disclosure. The vulnerability affects unauthenticated remote attackers as no privileges or user interaction are required.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, avoid applying untrusted JSON Patch documents using cJSONUtils_ApplyPatches() or cJSONUtils_ApplyPatchesCaseSensitive().
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- VulnCheck
- Date Reserved
- 2026-07-28T19:20:19.157Z
- Cvss Version
- 4.0
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
Threat ID: 6a6a093c9c2644c7f89a3159
Added to database: 07/29/2026, 14:07:56 UTC
Last enriched: 07/29/2026, 14:22:51 UTC
Last updated: 07/29/2026, 14:52:48 UTC
Views: 3
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