FasterXML jackson-dataformats-binary Smile parser SmileParser._handleLongFieldName resource consumption

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in FasterXML jackson-dataformats-binary. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function SmileParser._handleLongFieldName of the component Smile parser. Such manipulation leads to resource consumption. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-68496. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in FasterXML jackson-dataformats-binary (version now known) and classified as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function SmileParser._handleLongFieldName of the component Smile parser. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a resource consumption vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-400. The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource, thereby enabling an actor to influence the amount of resources consumed, eventually leading to the exhaustion of available resources. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

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.

The advisory is available at github.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-68496 since 07/30/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. This vulnerability is assigned to T1499 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Type

• Programming Language Software

Vendor

• FasterXML

Name

• jackson-dataformats-binary

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-dataformats-binary/

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