jackson-databind: unbounded numeric parse in Duration and XMLGregorianCalendar deserialization allows CPU denial of service
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-68497 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | HeroDevs |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-09-11 16:17:39 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-09-11 17:17:46 UTC |
| Description | jackson-databind binds a JSON string to a javax.xml.datatype.Duration or javax.xml.datatype.XMLGregorianCalendar field by passing the raw string verbatim to DatatypeFactory.newDuration(value) or newXMLGregorianCalendar(value) in CoreXMLDeserializers.Std._deserialize. These deserializers are registered by default with no opt-in, so a plain ObjectMapper or JsonMapper with no polymorphic typing and no special configuration reaches this path. The XML Schema lexical grammar permits numeric components of arbitrary length, which the JDK materializes through the native BigInteger(String) and BigDecimal(String) constructors, both quadratic in digit count. Because the digits sit inside a JSON string token rather than a JSON number token, jackson-core's StreamReadConstraints.maxNumberLength guard never applies; jackson's own NumberDeserializers call validateIntegerLength or validateFPLength before parsing a stringified number, but the XML datatype deserializer omits that pre-check. An unauthenticated attacker can therefore submit a single request of a few megabytes, such as a Duration value consisting of the letter P followed by several million digits and the letter Y, and force tens of seconds to several minutes of single-threaded CPU work; a handful of concurrent requests can saturate a server's worker threads. This affects com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind from 2.0.0 before 2.18.10, from 2.19.0 before 2.21.6, and from 2.22.0 before 2.22.2, and tools.jackson.core:jackson-databind from 3.0.0 before 3.1.6 and from 3.2.0 before 3.2.2. Users should upgrade to 2.18.10, 2.21.6, 2.22.2, 3.1.6, or 3.2.2. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.5 HIGH from 36c7be3b-2937-45df-85ea-ca7133ea542c
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS: 0.005810000 probability, percentile 0.459370000 (date 2026-09-14)
Problem Types: CWE-400 | CWE-1333 | CWE-400 CWE-400 Uncontrolled Resource Consumption | CWE-1333 CWE-1333 Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 36c7be3b-2937-45df-85ea-ca7133ea542c | Secondary | 7.5 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 7.5 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | FasterXML | Jackson-databind | affected 2.0.0 2.18.10 maven | Not specified |
| CNA | FasterXML | Jackson-databind | affected 2.19.0 2.21.6 maven | Not specified |
| CNA | FasterXML | Jackson-databind | affected 2.22.0 2.22.2 maven | Not specified |
| CNA | FasterXML | Jackson-databind | affected 3.0.0 3.1.6 maven | Not specified |
| CNA | FasterXML | Jackson-databind | affected 3.2.0 3.2.2 maven | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/FasterXML/jackson-databind/pull/6127 | 36c7be3b-2937-45df-85ea-ca7133ea542c | github.com | |
| github.com/FasterXML/jackson-databind/commit/a99b7e74c8928f43f6975773a8c... | 36c7be3b-2937-45df-85ea-ca7133ea542c | github.com | |
| github.com/FasterXML/jackson-databind/security/advisories/GHSA-q4xh-88c3... | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: waydeshi (en)
CNA: pjfanning (en)
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-07-29T03:29:00.000Z | Fix merged upstream (FasterXML/jackson-databind#6127) |
| CNA | 2026-08-06T04:00:00.000Z | CVE ID disclosed publicly in upstream release notes for #6127 |
| CNA | 2026-08-21T18:25:00.000Z | GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-q4xh-88c3-wmh7 published by the maintainer |
Solutions
CNA: Upgrade to jackson-databind 2.18.10, 2.21.6, 2.22.2 (com.fasterxml.jackson.core) or 3.1.6, 3.2.2 (tools.jackson.core). The fix applies the same validate-length-then-parse idiom already used by NumberDeserializers, calling StreamReadConstraints length validation on the raw string before delegating to DatatypeFactory. The guard deliberately does not extend to javax.xml.namespace.QName, whose local parts may legitimately be long.
Workarounds
CNA: Avoid binding javax.xml.datatype.Duration and javax.xml.datatype.XMLGregorianCalendar fields directly from untrusted JSON. Where such fields are required, impose a maximum request body size and a maximum string length at the transport layer, or bind the value as a String, length-check it, and convert it in application code.