BREW-DEXTER-CVE-2022-3171 (GHSA-H4H5-3HR4-J3G2)

Vulnerability from osv_homebrew – Published: 2026-08-13 16:42 – Updated: 2026-08-13 16:42 – Source website
VLAI
Summary
protobuf-java has a potential Denial of Service issue
Details

Summary

A potential Denial of Service issue in protobuf-java core and lite was discovered in the parsing procedure for binary and text format data. Input streams containing multiple instances of non-repeated embedded messages with repeated or unknown fields causes objects to be converted back-n-forth between mutable and immutable forms, resulting in potentially long garbage collection pauses.

Reporter: OSS Fuzz

Affected versions: This issue affects both the Java full and lite Protobuf runtimes, as well as Protobuf for Kotlin and JRuby, which themselves use the Java Protobuf runtime.

Severity

CVE-2022-3171 Medium - CVSS Score: 5.7 (NOTE: there may be a delay in publication)

Remediation and Mitigation

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

protobuf-java (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3) protobuf-javalite (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3) protobuf-kotlin (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3) protobuf-kotlin-lite (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3) google-protobuf [JRuby gem only] (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6)

Severity
5.7 (Medium)
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
References
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "fix": "bump",
        "range_state": "fixed",
        "resource": "google-protobuf",
        "resource_purl": "pkg:gem/google-protobuf@4.33.0",
        "upstream_fixed_in": "3.21.7"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Homebrew",
        "name": "dexter",
        "purl": "pkg:brew/dexter"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.6.3_1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "confidence": "high",
    "source": "matched",
    "strategy": "registry",
    "upstream_evidence": [
      {
        "ecosystem": "RubyGems",
        "key": "pkg:gem/google-protobuf@4.33.0",
        "name": "google-protobuf",
        "resource": "google-protobuf",
        "strategy": "registry",
        "subject_version": "4.33.0"
      }
    ]
  },
  "details": "## Summary\nA potential Denial of Service issue in `protobuf-java` core and lite was discovered in the parsing procedure for binary and text format data. Input streams containing multiple instances of non-repeated [embedded messages](http://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/encoding#embedded) with repeated or unknown fields causes objects to be converted back-n-forth between mutable and immutable forms, resulting in potentially long garbage collection pauses. \n\nReporter: [OSS Fuzz](https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=48771)\n\nAffected versions: This issue affects both the Java full and lite Protobuf runtimes, as well as Protobuf for Kotlin and JRuby, which themselves use the Java Protobuf runtime.\n\n## Severity\n\n[CVE-2022-3171](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-3171) Medium - CVSS Score: 5.7 (NOTE: there may be a delay in publication)\n\n## Remediation and Mitigation\n\nPlease update to the latest available versions of the following packages:\n\nprotobuf-java (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3)\nprotobuf-javalite (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3)\nprotobuf-kotlin (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3)\nprotobuf-kotlin-lite (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3)\ngoogle-protobuf [JRuby gem only] (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6)\n",
  "id": "BREW-dexter-CVE-2022-3171",
  "modified": "2026-08-13T16:42:27Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T16:42:27Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/security/advisories/GHSA-h4h5-3hr4-j3g2"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-3171"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=48771"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/tag/v21.7"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/tag/v3.16.3"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/tag/v3.19.6"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/tag/v3.20.3"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/google-protobuf/CVE-2022-3171.yml"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CBAUKJQL6O4TIWYBENORSY5P43TVB4M3"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MPCGUT3T5L6C3IDWUPSUO22QDCGQKTOP"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202301-09"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.3",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "protobuf-java has a potential Denial of Service issue",
  "upstream": [
    "GHSA-h4h5-3hr4-j3g2",
    "CVE-2022-3171"
  ]
}



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