Vulnerability in Google Protobuf
CVE-2026-0994
A denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability exists in google.protobuf.json_format.ParseDict() in Python, where the max_recursion_depth limit can be bypassed when parsing nested google.protobuf.Any messages. Due to missing recursion depth accounting inside the internal Any-handling logic, an attacker can supply deeply nested Any structures that bypass the intended recursion limit, eventually exhausting Python’s recursion stack and causing a RecursionError.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.007 (52.1th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 52nd percentile — 52.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.007 · newest: 0.007 · change: +0.000
Affected products
- Google Protobuf
- Python Protobuf — versions <=v33.4
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/pull/25239 (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
- 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
- 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
- 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
- 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
- 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
- 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
- 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
- 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
- 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-0994?
- CVE-2026-0994 is a high-severity vulnerability in Google Protobuf, classified under Uncontrolled Recursion. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-01-23.
- How severe is CVE-2026-0994?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2026-0994 known to be exploited?
- 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.