github - ghsa-8qvm-5x2c-j2w7

GHSA-8QVM-5X2C-J2W7

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-06-16 16:02 – Updated: 2025-06-16 16:02

Summary

protobuf-python has a potential Denial of Service issue

Details

Summary

Any project that uses Protobuf pure-Python backend to parse untrusted Protocol Buffers data containing an arbitrary number of recursive groups, recursive messages or a series of SGROUP tags can be corrupted by exceeding the Python recursion limit.

Reporter: Alexis Challande, Trail of Bits Ecosystem Security Team ecosystem@trailofbits.com

Affected versions: This issue only affects the pure-Python implementation of protobuf-python backend. This is the implementation when PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION=python environment variable is set or the default when protobuf is used from Bazel or pure-Python PyPi wheels. CPython PyPi wheels do not use pure-Python by default.

This is a Python variant of a previous issue affecting protobuf-java.

Severity

This is a potential Denial of Service. Parsing nested protobuf data creates unbounded recursions that can be abused by an attacker.

Proof of Concept

For reproduction details, please refer to the unit tests decoder_test.py and message_test

Remediation and Mitigation

A mitigation is available now. Please update to the latest available versions of the following packages: * protobuf-python(4.25.8, 5.29.5, 6.31.1)

Severity ?

8.2 (High)


                  
                    CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Show details on source website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "name": "protobuf"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "4.25.8"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "name": "protobuf"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "5.26.0rc1"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "5.29.5"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "name": "protobuf"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "6.30.0rc1"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "6.31.1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2025-4565"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-674"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2025-06-16T16:02:58Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2025-06-16T15:15:24Z",
    "severity": "HIGH"
  },
  "details": "### Summary\nAny project that uses Protobuf pure-Python backend to parse untrusted Protocol Buffers data containing an arbitrary number of **recursive groups**, **recursive messages** or **a series of [`SGROUP`](https://protobuf.dev/programming-guides/encoding/#groups) tags** can be corrupted by exceeding the Python recursion limit.\n\nReporter: Alexis Challande, Trail of Bits Ecosystem Security Team\n[ecosystem@trailofbits.com](mailto:ecosystem@trailofbits.com)\n\nAffected versions: This issue only affects the [pure-Python implementation](https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/tree/main/python#implementation-backends) of protobuf-python backend. This is the implementation when `PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION=python` environment variable is set or the default when protobuf is used from Bazel or pure-Python PyPi wheels. CPython PyPi wheels do not use pure-Python by default.\n\nThis is a Python variant of a [previous issue affecting protobuf-java](https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/security/advisories/GHSA-735f-pc8j-v9w8).\n\n### Severity\nThis is a potential Denial of Service. Parsing nested protobuf data creates unbounded recursions that can be abused by an attacker.\n\n### Proof of Concept\nFor reproduction details, please refer to the unit tests [decoder_test.py](https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/blob/main/python/google/protobuf/internal/decoder_test.py#L87-L98) and [message_test](https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/blob/main/python/google/protobuf/internal/message_test.py#L1436-L1478)\n\n### Remediation and Mitigation\nA mitigation is available now. Please update to the latest available versions of the following packages:\n* protobuf-python(4.25.8, 5.29.5, 6.31.1)",
  "id": "GHSA-8qvm-5x2c-j2w7",
  "modified": "2025-06-16T16:02:58Z",
  "published": "2025-06-16T16:02:58Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/security/advisories/GHSA-735f-pc8j-v9w8"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/security/advisories/GHSA-8qvm-5x2c-j2w7"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-4565"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/commit/17838beda2943d08b8a9d4df5b68f5f04f26d901"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/blob/main/python/google/protobuf/internal/decoder_test.py#L87-L98"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/blob/main/python/google/protobuf/internal/message_test.py#L1436-L1478"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/tree/main/python#implementation-backends"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "protobuf-python has a potential Denial of Service issue"
}

CVE-2025-4565 (GCVE-0-2025-4565)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-06-16 14:50 – Updated: 2025-06-16 15:39

Summary

Any project that uses Protobuf Pure-Python backend to parse untrusted Protocol Buffers data containing an arbitrary number of recursive groups, recursive messages or a series of SGROUP tags can be corrupted by exceeding the Python recursion limit. This can result in a Denial of service by crashing the application with a RecursionError. We recommend upgrading to version =>6.31.1 or beyond commit 17838beda2943d08b8a9d4df5b68f5f04f26d901

Severity ?

8.2 (High)


                        
                          CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CWE

CWE-674 - Uncontrolled Recursion

Assigner

Google

References

URL

Tags

https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/commi…

Impacted products

Vendor

Product

Version

protocolbuffers

Python-Protobuf

Affected: 0 , < 4.25.8 (semver)
Affected: 0 , < 5.29.5 (semver)
Affected: 0 , < 6.31.1 (semver)

protocolbuffers

Python-Protobuf

Affected: 0 , < 4.25.8 (semver)
Affected: 0 , < 5.29.5 (semver)
Affected: 0 , < 6.31.1 (semver)

Credits

Alexis Challande - Trail of Bits Ecosystem Security Team

Show details on NVD website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2025-4565",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "none"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "yes"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "partial"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2025-06-16T15:38:57.654894Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2025-06-16T15:39:18.263Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "collectionURL": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "packageName": "protobuf",
          "product": "Python-Protobuf",
          "programFiles": [
            "python/google/protobuf/internal/decoder.py"
          ],
          "repo": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/",
          "vendor": "protocolbuffers",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "4.25.8",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "5.29.5",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "6.31.1",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "collectionURL": "https://pypi.org/project/protobuf/",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Python-Protobuf",
          "repo": "https://pypi.org/project/protobuf/",
          "vendor": "protocolbuffers",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "4.25.8",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "5.29.5",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "6.31.1",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "type": "finder",
          "value": "Alexis Challande - Trail of Bits Ecosystem Security Team"
        }
      ],
      "datePublic": "2025-05-12T22:00:00.000Z",
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "supportingMedia": [
            {
              "base64": false,
              "type": "text/html",
              "value": "\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003eAny project that uses \u003c/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProtobuf Pure-Python backend\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;to parse untrusted Protocol Buffers data containing an arbitrary number of recursive \u003c/span\u003e\u003ccode\u003egroup\u003c/code\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003es, recursive \u003c/span\u003e\u003ccode\u003emessage\u003c/code\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003es or a series of \u003c/span\u003e\u003ccode\u003eSGROUP\u003c/code\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;tags can be corrupted by exceeding the Python recursion limit. This can result in a Denial of service by crashing the application with a RecursionError. We recommend upgrading to version =\u0026gt;6.31.1 or beyond commit\u0026nbsp;17838beda2943d08b8a9d4df5b68f5f04f26d901\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e"
            }
          ],
          "value": "Any project that uses Protobuf Pure-Python backend\u00a0to parse untrusted Protocol Buffers data containing an arbitrary number of recursive groups, recursive messages or a series of SGROUP\u00a0tags can be corrupted by exceeding the Python recursion limit. This can result in a Denial of service by crashing the application with a RecursionError. We recommend upgrading to version =\u003e6.31.1 or beyond commit\u00a017838beda2943d08b8a9d4df5b68f5f04f26d901"
        }
      ],
      "impacts": [
        {
          "capecId": "CAPEC-130",
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "CAPEC-130 Excessive Allocation"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV4_0": {
            "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackRequirements": "PRESENT",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "baseScore": 8.2,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
            "version": "4.0",
            "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "HIGH",
            "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "vulnIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
            "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED"
          },
          "format": "CVSS",
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "GENERAL"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-674",
              "description": "CWE-674 Uncontrolled Recursion",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2025-06-16T14:50:40.906Z",
        "orgId": "14ed7db2-1595-443d-9d34-6215bf890778",
        "shortName": "Google"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/commit/17838beda2943d08b8a9d4df5b68f5f04f26d901"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
      },
      "title": "Unbounded recursion in Python Protobuf",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "Vulnogram 0.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "14ed7db2-1595-443d-9d34-6215bf890778",
    "assignerShortName": "Google",
    "cveId": "CVE-2025-4565",
    "datePublished": "2025-06-16T14:50:40.906Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-05-12T05:48:12.941Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2025-06-16T15:39:18.263Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.1"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

Action not permitted

GHSA-8QVM-5X2C-J2W7

Summary

Severity

Proof of Concept

Remediation and Mitigation

CVE-2025-4565 (GCVE-0-2025-4565)

Tags

Sightings

Nomenclature