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CVE-2021-22569 — Vulnerability in...

HIGH

A potential Denial of Service issue in protobuf-java

Published January 7, 2022Updated September 10, 2026Source: osv

Summary

## 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)

Advisory Timeline

  • First published January 7, 2022 (1739 days ago).
  • Last revised September 10, 2026 — 1706 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Maven
Update com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin to 3.19.2 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 3.19.2 for com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin -->
Maven
Update com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin to 3.18.2 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 3.18.2 for com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin -->
Maven
Update com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java to 3.16.1 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 3.16.1 for com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java -->
Maven
Update com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java to 3.19.2 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 3.19.2 for com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java -->
Maven
Update com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java to 3.18.2 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 3.18.2 for com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java -->
Bundler
Update google-protobuf to 3.19.2 or later
gem install google-protobuf -v 3.19.2

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (6)

Affects 2 ecosystems: maven (2), rubygems (1).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin
maven
3.19.0, 3.19.13.19.2
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin
maven
3.18.0, 3.18.13.18.2
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java
maven
2.0.1, 2.0.3, 2.1.0, 2.2.0 (+69 more)3.16.1
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java
maven
3.19.0, 3.19.13.19.2
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java
maven
3.18.0, 3.18.13.18.2
google-protobuf
rubygems
3.0.0, 3.0.0.alpha.1.0, 3.0.0.alpha.1.1, 3.0.0.alpha.2.0 (+86 more)3.19.2

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 7.5 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-22569?
A potential Denial of Service issue in protobuf-java This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of HIGH (CVSS score: 7.5/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2021-22569?
CVE-2021-22569 affects com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin, com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java and google-protobuf. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2021-22569 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
7.5

High exploitability or significant impact. Prioritize remediation within days.

Also Known As

GHSA-wrvw-hg22-4m67

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