GHSA-93J5-89VC-PPH4

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-08-18 16:32 – Updated: 2026-08-18 16:32
VLAI
Summary
RabbitMQ Java client ValueReader: Unbounded recursive table/array nesting causes StackOverflowError DoS
Details

Summary

ValueReader.readTable() and readArray() recursively call readFieldValue() with no depth limit. A malicious AMQP peer can crash the client JVM by sending a deeply nested table structure.

Vulnerable Code

src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/client/impl/ValueReader.java lines 139-155 and 237-249:

private static Map<String, Object> readTable(DataInputStream in) throws IOException {
    long tableLength = unsignedExtend(in.readInt());
    // ...
    while(tableIn.available() > 0) {
        String name = readShortstr(tableIn);
        Object value = readFieldValue(tableIn);  // recursive call
    }
}

static Object readFieldValue(DataInputStream in) throws IOException {
    switch(in.readUnsignedByte()) {
      case 'F': value = readTable(in);  // mutual recursion
      case 'A': value = readArray(in);  // mutual recursion
    }
}

Attack Scenario

A malicious AMQP server (or MitM) sends a connection.start frame with ~580 levels of nested tables. Each level costs ~7 bytes (4-byte length + 1-byte key length + 1-byte key + 1-byte type tag), totaling ~4060 bytes within the 131,072 byte max frame size. With the default JVM stack (~512KB, ~864 bytes/frame), this triggers StackOverflowError, killing the I/O thread.

Exploitable pre-authentication since connection.start is the very first server frame.

Impact

Denial of service. StackOverflowError kills the client I/O thread.

CWE

CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion

Remediation

Add a depth counter to readTable/readArray/readFieldValue and throw MalformedFrameException when exceeding a threshold (e.g., 32).

Severity
8.7 (High)
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Show details on source website
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{
  "affected": [
    {
      "database_specific": {
        "last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 5.33.0"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Maven",
        "name": "com.rabbitmq:amqp-client"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "5.33.1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-69220"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-674"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-08-18T16:32:12Z",
    "nvd_published_at": null,
    "severity": "HIGH"
  },
  "details": "## Summary\n\n`ValueReader.readTable()` and `readArray()` recursively call `readFieldValue()` with no depth limit. A malicious AMQP peer can crash the client JVM by sending a deeply nested table structure.\n\n## Vulnerable Code\n\n`src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/client/impl/ValueReader.java` lines 139-155 and 237-249:\n\n```java\nprivate static Map\u003cString, Object\u003e readTable(DataInputStream in) throws IOException {\n    long tableLength = unsignedExtend(in.readInt());\n    // ...\n    while(tableIn.available() \u003e 0) {\n        String name = readShortstr(tableIn);\n        Object value = readFieldValue(tableIn);  // recursive call\n    }\n}\n\nstatic Object readFieldValue(DataInputStream in) throws IOException {\n    switch(in.readUnsignedByte()) {\n      case \u0027F\u0027: value = readTable(in);  // mutual recursion\n      case \u0027A\u0027: value = readArray(in);  // mutual recursion\n    }\n}\n```\n\n## Attack Scenario\n\nA malicious AMQP server (or MitM) sends a `connection.start` frame with ~580 levels of nested tables. Each level costs ~7 bytes (4-byte length + 1-byte key length + 1-byte key + 1-byte type tag), totaling ~4060 bytes within the 131,072 byte max frame size. With the default JVM stack (~512KB, ~864 bytes/frame), this triggers `StackOverflowError`, killing the I/O thread.\n\nExploitable pre-authentication since `connection.start` is the very first server frame.\n\n## Impact\n\nDenial of service. `StackOverflowError` kills the client I/O thread.\n\n## CWE\n\nCWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion\n\n## Remediation\n\nAdd a depth counter to `readTable`/`readArray`/`readFieldValue` and throw `MalformedFrameException` when exceeding a threshold (e.g., 32).",
  "id": "GHSA-93j5-89vc-pph4",
  "modified": "2026-08-18T16:32:12Z",
  "published": "2026-08-18T16:32:12Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/security/advisories/GHSA-93j5-89vc-pph4"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/pull/2007"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/pull/2008"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/commit/09af76fce136f3136931654a0a1d43095c80e2f0"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/commit/db89e34809fbc6ba4e946615f297f3684ccd0acc"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/releases/tag/v5.33.1"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "RabbitMQ Java client ValueReader: Unbounded recursive table/array nesting causes StackOverflowError DoS"
}



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