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7.5
CVE-2026-68496: Jackson Smile parser can cause memory exhaustion
CVE-2026-68496 · published 1 month ago
Summary
The Smile data format parser in the Jackson library does not limit how long a property name can be, so a specially crafted file can make the program use all its memory and stop working. This can happen whenever an application accepts Smile data from users. Update to the latest Jackson versions that include the fix or add your own checks on input size to prevent the issue.
What to do
The CVE record does not list a fixed version. Check the vendor's site or the advisory links below - a fix may already be released.
Affected software
| Ecosystem | Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | fasterxml | jackson-dataformats-binary |
<= 2.18.9 <= 3.1.5 |
| Debian:12 | debian | jackson-dataformat-smile | All versions |
| Ubuntu:16.04:LTS | canonical | jackson-dataformat-smile | All versions |
Original advisory text
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68496
The Smile parser in FasterXML jackson-dataformats-binary never invokes StreamReadConstraints.validateNameLength() when decoding JSON object property names, so the maxNameLength limit is not enforced for this format. SmileParser._handleLongFieldName() grows its internal name buffer through an unconstrained _growArrayTo() call and performs no length validation. An attacker who can have a Smile document parsed may therefore embed a single property name of unbounded length; the parser buffers the whole name in memory before returning it, whatever maxNameLength is configured to. Because StreamReadConstraints.maxDocumentLength is also disabled by default, nothing else bounds the name under default settings, so the only limits are the attacker's upload capacity and available heap, leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. No privileges beyond the ability to submit data to a parsing endpoint are required, and exploitation needs only that the bytes reach SmileFactory parsing, directly or through an ObjectMapper configured with the Smile module. jackson-core's own JSON parsers enforce maxNameLength incrementally during name decoding; this gap is specific to the binary formats. maxNameLength and validateNameLength were introduced in jackson-core 2.16.0, so releases before 2.16.0 do not contain the constraint that is left unenforced. This issue is tracked together with the CBOR parser defect in the same vendor advisory, GHSA-3v8f-v6vx-fmrm, which covers both binary formats. The Smile parser defect (jackson-dataformats-binary issue #726) is CVE-2026-68496; the CBOR parser defect (issue #725) is assigned CVE-2026-68495.
References
- https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-dataformats-binary/issues/726 Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68495 Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-dataformats-binary/security/advisories/GHSA... Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-dataformats-binary/blob/2.18/release-notes/... Third Party Advisory
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-68496 Vendor Advisory
- https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-68496 Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68496 Third Party Advisory
Internet-facing
14 days
Internal
60 days
- Not known to be exploited
- Can be exploited automatically
- Gives an attacker partial control
Type
CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits
Timeline
Published1 Oct 2026
Updated4 Nov 2026
First seen1 Oct 2026
Sources
CVE-2026-68496 · NVD
CVE-2026-68496 · MITRE
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68496 · OSV
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68496 · OSV
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