{"id":"GHSA-wf8f-6423-gfxg","summary":"Jackson-core Vulnerable to Memory Disclosure via Source Snippet in JsonLocation","details":"### Overview\n\nA flaw in Jackson-core's `JsonLocation._appendSourceDesc` method allows up to 500 bytes of unintended memory content to be included in exception messages. When parsing JSON from a byte array with an offset and length, the exception message incorrectly reads from the beginning of the array instead of the logical payload start. This results in possible **information disclosure** in systems using **pooled or reused buffers**, like Netty or Vert.x.\n\n### Details\n\nThe vulnerability affects the creation of exception messages like:\n\n```\nJsonParseException: Unexpected character ... at [Source: (byte[])...]\n```\n\nWhen `JsonFactory.createParser(byte[] data, int offset, int len)` is used, and an error occurs while parsing, the exception message should include a snippet from the specified logical payload. However, the method `_appendSourceDesc` ignores the `offset`, and always starts reading from index `0`.\n\nIf the buffer contains residual sensitive data from a previous request, such as credentials or document contents, that data may be exposed if the exception is propagated to the client.\n\nThe issue particularly impacts server applications using:\n\n* Pooled byte buffers (e.g., Netty)\n* Frameworks that surface parse errors in HTTP responses\n* Default Jackson settings (i.e., `INCLUDE_SOURCE_IN_LOCATION` is enabled)\n\nA documented real-world example is [CVE-2021-22145](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22145) in Elasticsearch, which stemmed from the same root cause.\n\n### Attack Scenario\n\nAn attacker sends malformed JSON to a service using Jackson and pooled byte buffers (e.g., Netty-based HTTP servers). If the server reuses a buffer and includes the parser’s exception in its HTTP 400 response, the attacker may receive residual data from previous requests.\n\n### Proof of Concept\n\n```java\nbyte[] buffer = new byte[1000];\nSystem.arraycopy(\"SECRET\".getBytes(), 0, buffer, 0, 6);\nSystem.arraycopy(\"{ \\\"bad\\\": }\".getBytes(), 0, buffer, 700, 10);\n\nJsonFactory factory = new JsonFactory();\nJsonParser parser = factory.createParser(buffer, 700, 20);\nparser.nextToken(); // throws exception\n\n// Exception message will include \"SECRET\"\n```\n\n### Patches\nThis issue was silently fixed in jackson-core version 2.13.0, released on September 30, 2021, via [PR #652](https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-core/pull/652).\n\nAll users should upgrade to version 2.13.0 or later.\n\n### Workarounds\nIf upgrading is not immediately possible, applications can mitigate the issue by:\n\n1. **Disabling exception message exposure to clients** — avoid returning parsing exception messages in HTTP responses.\n2. **Disabling source inclusion in exceptions** by setting:\n\n   ```java\n   jsonFactory.disable(JsonFactory.Feature.INCLUDE_SOURCE_IN_LOCATION);\n   ```\n\n    This prevents Jackson from embedding any source content in exception messages, avoiding leakage.\n\n\n### References\n* [Pull Request #652 (Fix implementation)](https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-core/pull/652)\n* [CVE-2021-22145 (Elasticsearch exposure of this flaw)](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22145)","aliases":["CVE-2025-49128"],"modified":"2026-07-17T21:07:17.128301060Z","published":"2025-06-07T00:10:42Z","database_specific":{"nvd_published_at":"2025-06-06T22:15:23Z","cwe_ids":["CWE-209"],"severity":"MODERATE","github_reviewed":true,"github_reviewed_at":"2025-06-07T00:10:42Z"},"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-core/security/advisories/GHSA-wf8f-6423-gfxg"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22145"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-49128"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-core/pull/652"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-core/commit/a6c297682737dde13337cb7c3020f299518609a8"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-core"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core","ecosystem":"Maven","purl":"pkg:maven/com.fasterxml.jackson.core/jackson-core"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2.0.0"},{"fixed":"2.13.0"}]}],"versions":["2.0.0","2.0.1","2.0.2","2.0.4","2.0.5","2.0.6","2.1.0","2.1.1","2.1.2","2.1.3","2.1.4","2.1.5","2.10.0","2.10.0.pr1","2.10.0.pr2","2.10.0.pr3","2.10.1","2.10.2","2.10.3","2.10.4","2.10.5","2.11.0","2.11.0.rc1","2.11.1","2.11.2","2.11.3","2.11.4","2.12.0","2.12.0-rc1","2.12.0-rc2","2.12.1","2.12.2","2.12.3","2.12.4","2.12.5","2.12.6","2.12.7","2.13.0-rc1","2.13.0-rc2","2.2.0","2.2.0-rc1","2.2.1","2.2.2","2.2.3","2.2.4","2.3.0","2.3.0-rc1","2.3.1","2.3.2","2.3.3","2.3.4","2.3.5","2.4.0","2.4.0-rc1","2.4.0-rc2","2.4.0-rc3","2.4.1","2.4.1.1","2.4.2","2.4.3","2.4.4","2.4.5","2.4.6","2.5.0","2.5.0-rc1","2.5.1","2.5.2","2.5.3","2.5.4","2.5.5","2.6.0","2.6.0-rc1","2.6.0-rc2","2.6.0-rc3","2.6.0-rc4","2.6.1","2.6.2","2.6.3","2.6.4","2.6.5","2.6.6","2.6.7","2.7.0","2.7.0-rc1","2.7.0-rc2","2.7.0-rc3","2.7.1","2.7.2","2.7.3","2.7.4","2.7.5","2.7.6","2.7.7","2.7.8","2.7.9","2.8.0","2.8.0.rc1","2.8.0.rc2","2.8.1","2.8.10","2.8.11","2.8.2","2.8.3","2.8.4","2.8.5","2.8.6","2.8.7","2.8.8","2.8.9","2.9.0","2.9.0.pr1","2.9.0.pr2","2.9.0.pr3","2.9.0.pr4","2.9.1","2.9.10","2.9.2","2.9.3","2.9.4","2.9.5","2.9.6","2.9.7","2.9.8","2.9.9"],"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2025/06/GHSA-wf8f-6423-gfxg/GHSA-wf8f-6423-gfxg.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"}]}