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GHSA-9ppp-w3g4-fh4q CVE-2026-54897

Oj: Use-After-Free in Oj::Doc Iterators via Reentrant Close

High RubyGems
Severity
0.0 / 10
High · CVSS 4.0
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.20%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 10.32% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-416 Use After Free
Fix
3.17.3
Upgrade oj to this version or later

Description

Summary

Oj::Doc iterators (each_value, each_child, each_leaf) are vulnerable to a heap use-after-free. When a Ruby block yielded during iteration calls doc.close or d.close, the document's heap memory is freed while the C iterator is still running. When control returns from the block, the iterator reads from the freed region, producing a use-after-free accessible from pure Ruby.

Version

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

Details

The iterators in ext/oj/fast.c follow the pattern:

// fast.c:1505 (doc_each_child)
static VALUE doc_each_child(VALUE self, ...) {
    ...
    while (cur != NULL) {
        rb_yield(...);       // ← Ruby block executes here
        cur = cur->next;     // ← cur is now freed if block called close()
    }
}

rb_yield can invoke arbitrary Ruby code, including calling close() on the Doc or any child node, which calls ruby_sized_xfree on the backing buffer. On return, the C code reads cur->next from the freed region. All three iterators are affected.

ASAN report (each_child variant):

==253632==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-use-after-free on address 0x5210000bd080
READ of size 8 at 0x5210000bd080 thread T0
    #0 doc_each_child  /ext/oj/fast.c:1505
0x5210000bd080 is located 896 bytes inside of 4064-byte region [0x5210000bcd00, 0x5210000bdce0)
freed by thread T0 here:
    #0 free
    #1 ruby_sized_xfree  (libruby-3.3.so.3.3)

All three iterators trigger the same freed region (fd shadow bytes):

0x5210000bd080:[fd]fd fd fd fd fd fd fd fd fd fd fd fd fd fd fd

Reproduce

require 'oj'
# each_child
Oj::Doc.open('[1,2]') { |doc| doc.each_child { |d| d.close } }
# each_value
Oj::Doc.open('[1,2]') { |doc| doc.each_value { |v| doc.close } }
# each_leaf
Oj::Doc.open('[1,[2]]') { |doc| doc.each_leaf { |d| d.close } }

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-416: Use After Free

The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design: Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
  • Implementation: When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-475m-ph3x-64gp
Oj: Integer Overflow in Oj.load 2GB String Handling
High Also affects oj
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-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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