🛡️ CVE-2021-22569 — google-protobuf

🟠 CVSS 8.0 — High ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-696 OSV
8.0
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

A potential Denial of Service issue in protobuf-java

Summary

A potential Denial of Service issue in protobuf-java was discovered in the parsing procedure for binary data.

Reporter: [OSS-Fuzz](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz)

Affected versions: All versions of Java Protobufs (including Kotlin and JRuby) prior to the versions listed below. Protobuf "javalite" users (typically Android) are not affected.

Severity

[CVE-2021-22569](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22569) High - CVSS Score: 7.5, An implementation weakness in how unknown fields are parsed in Java. A small (~800 KB) malicious payload can occupy the parser for several minutes by creating large numbers of short-lived objects that cause frequent, repeated GC pauses.

Proof of Concept

For reproduction details, please refer to the oss-fuzz issue that identifies the specific inputs that exercise this parsing weakness.

Remediation and Mitigation

Please update to the latest available versions of the following packages:

  • protobuf-java (3.16.1, 3.18.2, 3.19.2)
  • protobuf-kotlin (3.18.2, 3.19.2)
  • google-protobuf [JRuby gem only] (3.19.2)

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.

Affected software

CVE-2021-22569 is recorded against 3 packages.

  • com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java (from 3.19.0 up to 3.19.2)
  • com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin (from 3.19.0 up to 3.19.2)
  • google-protobuf (fixed in 3.19.2)

Timeline and source

Published on 7 January 2022 and last revised on 4 February 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.

References

github.com (Web)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
bugs.chromium.org (Web)
cloud.google.com (Web)
github.com (Package)
www.oracle.com (Web)
www.openwall.com (Web)
www.openwall.com (Web)

CVE-2021-22569 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity HIGH
CVSS Score 8.0
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE CWE-696
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source OSV
Published 2022-01-07
Updated 2026-08-12
Modified 2026-02-04
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java 3.19.0 3.19.2
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin 3.19.0 3.19.2
google-protobuf — 3.19.2

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