Skip to main content

Boteraser | Website and Server Security Solutions

🛡️ CVE-2022-1941 — debian-linux

🟠 CVSS 8.0 — High ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-1286 NVD
8.0
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

protobuf-cpp and protobuf-python have potential Denial of Service issue

Summary

A message parsing and memory management vulnerability in ProtocolBuffer’s C++ and Python implementations can trigger an out of memory (OOM) failure when processing a specially crafted message, which could lead to a denial of service (DoS) on services using the libraries.

Reporter: [ClusterFuzz](https://google.github.io/clusterfuzz/)

Affected versions: All versions of C++ Protobufs (including Python) prior to the versions listed below.

Severity & Impact

As scored by google

Medium 5.7 - [CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H](https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

Asscored byt NIST

High 7.5 - [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H](https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

A small (~500 KB) malicious payload can be constructed which causes the running service to allocate more than 3GB of RAM.

Proof of Concept

For reproduction details, please refer to the unit test that identifies the specific inputs that exercise this parsing weakness.

Mitigation / Patching

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

  • protobuf-cpp (3.18.3, 3.19.5, 3.20.2, 3.21.6)
  • protobuf-python (3.18.3, 3.19.5, 3.20.2, 4.21.6)

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.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

  • Attack vector: Network — reachable from anywhere that can route to the service.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: None — an unauthenticated stranger can try it.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: None.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Weakness class

CVE-2022-1941 is classified as CWE-1286: Improper Validation of Syntactic Correctness of Input. The product receives input that is expected to be well-formed - i.e., to comply with a certain syntax - but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input complies with the syntax.

Affected software

CVE-2022-1941 is recorded against 5 packages.

  • debian-linux
  • fedora
  • protobuf (from 4.0.0 up to 4.21.6)
  • protobuf-cpp (from 3.21.0 up to 3.21.6)
  • protobuf-python (from 4.0.0 up to 4.21.6)

Timeline and source

Published on 22 September 2022 and last revised on 17 June 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from NVD.

References

www.openwall.com
cloud.google.com
github.com
lists.debian.org
lists.fedoraproject.org
lists.fedoraproject.org
security.netapp.com
www.openwall.com
cloud.google.com
github.com
lists.debian.org
lists.fedoraproject.org
lists.fedoraproject.org
security.netapp.com

Other advisories for this package

debian-linux has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

Same weakness in other software

These advisories are the same class of weakness (CWE-1286: Improper Validation of Syntactic Correctness of Input) in other software:

CVE-2022-1941 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-1286
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2022-09-22
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-06-17
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
debian-linux — —
fedora — —
protobuf 4.0.0 4.21.6
protobuf-cpp 3.21.0 3.21.6
protobuf-python 4.0.0 4.21.6

References

Mailing List, Third Party Advisory http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/09/27/1
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/09/27/1

Similar Threats

Site Security Check

Is debian-linux part of your stack?

CVE-2022-1941 is rated CVSS 8.0 High. BotEraser scans your installation against known CVE records and tells you whether this vulnerability applies to the versions you actually run.

Scan My Site Free →

No credit card required  ·  Results in minutes

ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

Browse related advisories

All advisoriesCVECVE 2022
✓