Red Hat Security Advisory: jq security update
jq is a lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor. jq is like sed for JSON data. You can use it to slice, filter, map, or transform structured data with the same ease that sed, awk, grep, or similar applications allow you to manipulate text. Security Fix(es): * jq: out-of-bounds read in jv_parse_sized() on error formatting for non-NUL-terminated buffers (CVE-2026-39979) * jq: jq: Denial of Service via crafted JSON object causing hash collisions (CVE-2026-40164) For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This advisory covers two vulnerabilities in jq, a JSON processing tool. The first (CVE-2026-39979) is an out-of-bounds read occurring in the jv_parse_sized() function when handling error formatting for non-NUL-terminated buffers. The second (CVE-2026-40164) is a denial of service vulnerability caused by crafted JSON objects that generate hash collisions, potentially leading to resource exhaustion. The vulnerabilities are addressed in updated jq packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support and associated CodeReady Linux Builder variants. No CVSS scores are provided in the advisory. The vendor rates the update as Important and provides updated packages to remediate these issues.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation of CVE-2026-39979 could lead to an out-of-bounds read, potentially causing application crashes or undefined behavior when jq processes malformed JSON inputs. CVE-2026-40164 could allow denial of service by triggering hash collisions in jq's JSON processing, leading to resource exhaustion and service disruption. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of this advisory. The vulnerabilities affect jq usage on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support and related platforms.
Mitigation Recommendations
Red Hat has released updated jq packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support and related CodeReady Linux Builder products that address these vulnerabilities. Users should apply these official updates as described in the Red Hat advisory (RHSA-2026:18042) to remediate the issues. Refer to https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258 for update instructions. No alternative mitigations or workarounds are specified in the advisory.
Red Hat Security Advisory: jq security update
Description
jq is a lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor. jq is like sed for JSON data. You can use it to slice, filter, map, or transform structured data with the same ease that sed, awk, grep, or similar applications allow you to manipulate text. Security Fix(es): * jq: out-of-bounds read in jv_parse_sized() on error formatting for non-NUL-terminated buffers (CVE-2026-39979) * jq: jq: Denial of Service via crafted JSON object causing hash collisions (CVE-2026-40164) For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.
Affected software
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This advisory covers two vulnerabilities in jq, a JSON processing tool. The first (CVE-2026-39979) is an out-of-bounds read occurring in the jv_parse_sized() function when handling error formatting for non-NUL-terminated buffers. The second (CVE-2026-40164) is a denial of service vulnerability caused by crafted JSON objects that generate hash collisions, potentially leading to resource exhaustion. The vulnerabilities are addressed in updated jq packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support and associated CodeReady Linux Builder variants. No CVSS scores are provided in the advisory. The vendor rates the update as Important and provides updated packages to remediate these issues.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation of CVE-2026-39979 could lead to an out-of-bounds read, potentially causing application crashes or undefined behavior when jq processes malformed JSON inputs. CVE-2026-40164 could allow denial of service by triggering hash collisions in jq's JSON processing, leading to resource exhaustion and service disruption. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of this advisory. The vulnerabilities affect jq usage on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support and related platforms.
Mitigation Recommendations
Red Hat has released updated jq packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support and related CodeReady Linux Builder products that address these vulnerabilities. Users should apply these official updates as described in the Red Hat advisory (RHSA-2026:18042) to remediate the issues. Refer to https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258 for update instructions. No alternative mitigations or workarounds are specified in the advisory.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Csaf Category
- csaf_security_advisory
- Csaf Version
- 2.0
- Publisher
- Red Hat Product Security
- Advisory Id
- RHSA-2026:18042
- Cve Count
- 2
- Additional Cves
- ["CVE-2026-40164"]
- Cvss Version
- null
Threat ID: 6a1f4e85e29bf47b5007dc6e
Added to database: 06/02/2026, 21:43:33 UTC
Last enriched: 07/10/2026, 12:58:32 UTC
Last updated: 07/31/2026, 19:24:46 UTC
Views: 148
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