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Advisory record · GHSA-h4h5-3hr4-j3g2

protobuf-java has a potential Denial of Service issue

CVSS 4.3 MediumEPSS 0.013 · 70th percentile

Published by the GitHub Advisory Database at 4 Oct 2022, 22:17 UTC. agentprime has not analysed this yet, so whether it affects any app is not known.

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed in
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-javaMaven>=3.21.0-rc-1, <3.21.7 || >=3.20.0-rc-1, <3.20.3 || >=3.17.0-rc-1, <3.19.6 || <3.16.33.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlinMaven>=3.21.0-rc-1, <3.21.7 || >=3.20.0-rc-1, <3.20.3 || >=3.17.0-rc-1, <3.19.6 || <3.16.33.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3
google-protobufRubyGems>=3.21.0.rc.1, <3.21.7 || >=3.20.0.rc.1, <3.20.3 || >=3.17.0.rc.1, <3.19.6 || <3.16.33.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-javaliteMaven>=3.21.0-rc-1, <3.21.7 || >=3.20.0-rc-1, <3.20.3 || >=3.17.0-rc-1, <3.19.6 || <3.16.33.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3
com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin-liteMaven>=3.21.0-rc-1, <3.21.7 || >=3.20.0-rc-1, <3.20.3 || >=3.17.0-rc-1, <3.19.6 || <3.16.33.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3
Identifiers
GHSA-h4h5-3hr4-j3g2 · CVE-2022-3171
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-20
Tags
Published
4 Oct 2022
Updated
10 Sept 2026

Machine-written summary

Summary written by Claude Haiku from the source advisory. Not reviewed by a person.

The protobuf-java package (core and lite runtimes, along with protobuf-kotlin and protobuf-kotlin-lite) is affected in versions from 3.16.3 up to but not including 3.21.7, and in various other version ranges. An attacker who can supply binary or text-format input containing many repeated non-repeated embedded messages with repeated or unknown fields can cause long garbage collection pauses, leading to denial of service. Upgrade to 3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, or 3.16.3, matching your release line.

Written 2 Nov 2026.

Not analysed yet

We haven’t published our analysis of this Advisory yet. Once a person has reviewed it, this page will say what’s vulnerable, what has to be true for your app to be affected, and how to check.

Severity and exploitation

ScoreRatingCVSSVectorSource
4.3 Medium 3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L CNA (Google)
  • CISA KEV Not listed.
  • EPSS 0.013, the 70th percentile, on 7 Nov 2026: FIRST’s estimate of the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Timeline

  1. 31 Oct 2026, 14:18 UTC First seen by agentprime
  2. 31 Oct 2026, 14:18 UTC Confirmed by OSV

Sources

Facts on this page come from the GitHub Advisory Database (CC-BY 4.0), OSV and the other sources listed, as published. We don’t reproduce full advisory descriptions, which can contain exploit code.