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GHSA-475m-ph3x-64gp CVE-2026-54903

Oj: Integer Overflow in Oj.load 2GB String Handling

High RubyGems
Severity
0.0 / 10
High · CVSS 4.0
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.41%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 34.98% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-190 Integer Overflow or Wraparound
Fix
3.17.3
Upgrade oj to this version or later

Description

Summary

Oj.load is vulnerable to heap corruption when parsing a JSON string longer than 2 GB. An integer overflow in buf_append_string (buf.h:61) converts the string length to a large negative size_t, causing memcpy to copy an astronomically large amount of data out of bounds. This crashes the process and can corrupt adjacent heap memory.

Version

  • Software: oj gem
  • Affected: all versions with ext/oj/buf.h and ext/oj/parse.c
  • Latest tested: 3.17.1 (confirmed present)

Details

ext/oj/buf.h, line 61:

inline static void buf_append_string(Buf buf, const char *s, size_t slen) {
    // ...
    memcpy(buf->tail, s, slen);   // slen derived from 32-bit int that wrapped negative

In parse.c, escape sequence handling computes the remaining string length as an int:

// parse.c:402 (read_escaped_str)
int  slen = (int)(s - str);   // ← wraps to negative when string > 2 GB
buf_append_string(buf, str, (size_t)slen);  // ← (size_t)(-2147483648) = 0x80000000...

ASAN report:

==399019==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: negative-size-param: (size=-2147483648)
    #0 __asan_memcpy
    #1 buf_append_string  /ext/oj/buf.h:61
    #2 read_escaped_str   /ext/oj/parse.c:402
    #3 read_str           /ext/oj/parse.c:542
    #4 oj_parse2          /ext/oj/parse.c:882
    #5 oj_pi_parse        /ext/oj/parse.c:1256
    #6 oj_object_parse    /ext/oj/object.c:701
    #7 load               /ext/oj/oj.c:1259
0x7f5a26ff0801 is located 1 bytes inside of 2147483657-byte region [0x7f5a26ff0800, 0x7f5aa6ff0809)

Reproduce

require 'oj'
n = 1 << 31                         # 2 GB
json = '"' + ('A' * n) + 'A"'  # >2GB JSON string with a trailing escape
Oj.load(json)

Affected versions

RubyGems

PackageVulnerableFixed in
oj
< 3.17.3
3.17.3

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

oj RubyGems → 3.17.3

bundler
bundle update oj # Gemfile: gem "oj", ">= 3.17.3"

Severity breakdown

CVSS 4.0 0.0

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

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
None
Integrity (vulnerable system)
None
Availability (vulnerable system)
High
Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
None
Integrity (subsequent systems)
None
Availability (subsequent systems)
None

Weakness

CWE-190: Integer Overflow or Wraparound

The product performs a calculation that can produce an integer overflow or wraparound when the logic assumes that the resulting value will always be larger than the original value. This occurs when an integer value is incremented to a value that is too large to store in the associated representation. When this occurs, the value may become a very small or negative number.

How to prevent it
  • Requirements: Ensure that all protocols are strictly defined, such that all out-of-bounds behavior can be identified simply, and require strict conformance to the protocol.
  • Requirements: Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. If possible, choose a language or compiler that performs automatic bounds checking.
  • Architecture and Design: Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid [REF-1482]. Use libraries or frameworks that make it easier to handle numbers without unexpected consequences. Examples include safe integer handling packages such as SafeInt (C++) or IntegerLib (C or C++). [REF-106]
  • Implementation: Perform input validation on any numeric input by ensuring that it is within the expected range. Enforce that the input meets both the minimum and maximum requirements for the expected range. Use unsigned integers where possible. This makes it easier to perform validation for integer overflows. When signed integers are required, ensure that the range check includes minimum values as well as maximum values.
  • Implementation: Understand the programming language's underlying representation and how it interacts with numeric calculation (CWE-681). Pay close attention to byte size discrepancies, precision, signed/unsigned distinctions, truncation, conversion and casting between types, "not-a-number" calculations, and how the language handles numbers that are too large or too small for its underlying representation. [REF-7] Also be careful to account for 32-bit, 64-bit, and other potential differences that may affect the numeric representation.
  • Architecture and Design: For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
  • Implementation: Examine compiler warnings closely and eliminate problems with potential security implications, such as signed / unsigned mismatch in memory operations, or use of uninitialized variables. Even if the weakness is rarely exploitable, a single failure may lead to the compromise of the entire system.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-m578-w5vf-rfcm
Oj: Use-After-Free in Oj::Parser SAJ Long Key Callback
High Also affects oj
GHSA-vwm4-62gf-x745
Oj: Use-After-Free in Oj::Parser array_class/hash_class GC Marking
High Also affects oj
GHSA-9cv6-qcjw-4grx
Oj: Negative-Size memcpy in Oj::Parser create_id Attribute Handling
High Also affects oj
GHSA-q2gm-54r6-8fwm
Oj: Use-After-Free in Oj::Parser SAJ Callback via Input Mutation
High Also affects oj
GHSA-9ppp-w3g4-fh4q
Oj: Use-After-Free in Oj::Doc Iterators via Reentrant Close
High Also affects oj
GHSA-35w3-pjm6-wj95
Oj: Heap Buffer Overflow in Oj.dump Exception Serialization via Large Indent
High Also affects oj
GHSA-3m6q-jj5j-38c9
Oj: Stack Buffer Overflow in Oj::Doc#each_child via Deeply Nested Input
High Also affects oj
GHSA-fm7p-mprw-wjm9
Oj: intern.c form_attr (uninitialized stack read)
Medium Also affects oj
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