Loading HuntDB...

CVE-2022-3171

MEDIUM
Published 2022-10-12T00:00:00.000Z
Actions:

Expert Analysis

Professional remediation guidance

Get tailored security recommendations from our analyst team for CVE-2022-3171. We'll provide specific mitigation strategies based on your environment and risk profile.

CVSS Score

V3.1
4.3
/10
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Base Score Metrics
Exploitability: N/A Impact: N/A

EPSS Score

v2025.03.14
0.001
probability
of exploitation in the wild

There is a 0.1% chance that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days.

Updated: 2025-06-25
Exploit Probability
Percentile: 0.224
Higher than 22.4% of all CVEs

Attack Vector Metrics

Attack Vector
ADJACENT_NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED

Impact Metrics

Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
LOW

Description

A parsing issue with binary data in protobuf-java core and lite versions prior to 3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6 and 3.16.3 can lead to a denial of service attack. Inputs containing multiple instances of non-repeated embedded messages with repeated or unknown fields causes objects to be converted back-n-forth between mutable and immutable forms, resulting in potentially long garbage collection pauses. We recommend updating to the versions mentioned above.

Understanding This Vulnerability

This Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) entry provides detailed information about a security vulnerability that has been publicly disclosed. CVEs are standardized identifiers assigned by MITRE Corporation to track and catalog security vulnerabilities across software and hardware products.

The severity rating (MEDIUM) indicates the potential impact of this vulnerability based on the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) framework. Higher severity ratings typically indicate vulnerabilities that could lead to more significant security breaches if exploited. Security teams should prioritize remediation efforts based on severity, exploit availability, and the EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score, which predicts the likelihood of exploitation in the wild.

If this vulnerability affects products or systems in your infrastructure, we recommend reviewing the affected products section, checking for available patches or updates from vendors, and implementing recommended workarounds or solutions until a permanent fix is available. Organizations should also monitor security advisories and threat intelligence feeds for updates about active exploitation of this vulnerability.

Available Exploits

No exploits available for this CVE.

Related News

No news articles found for this CVE.

Affected Products

References

EU Vulnerability Database

Monitored by ENISA for EU cybersecurity

EU Coordination

Not EU Coordinated

Exploitation Status

No Known Exploitation

ENISA Analysis

Malicious code in bioql (PyPI)

Affected Products (ENISA)

google llc
protocolbuffers

ENISA Scoring

CVSS Score (3.1)

4.3
/10
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

EPSS Score

0.080
probability

Data provided by ENISA EU Vulnerability Database. Last updated: October 3, 2025

GitHub Security Advisories

Community-driven vulnerability intelligence from GitHub

✓ GitHub Reviewed MODERATE

protobuf-java has a potential Denial of Service issue

GHSA-h4h5-3hr4-j3g2

Advisory Details

## Summary A potential Denial of Service issue in `protobuf-java` core and lite was discovered in the parsing procedure for binary and text format data. Input streams containing multiple instances of non-repeated [embedded messages](http://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/encoding#embedded) with repeated or unknown fields causes objects to be converted back-n-forth between mutable and immutable forms, resulting in potentially long garbage collection pauses. Reporter: [OSS Fuzz](https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=48771) Affected versions: This issue affects both the Java full and lite Protobuf runtimes, as well as Protobuf for Kotlin and JRuby, which themselves use the Java Protobuf runtime. ## Severity [CVE-2022-3171](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-3171) Medium - CVSS Score: 5.7 (NOTE: there may be a delay in publication) ## Remediation and Mitigation Please update to the latest available versions of the following packages: protobuf-java (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3) protobuf-javalite (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3) protobuf-kotlin (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3) protobuf-kotlin-lite (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6, 3.16.3) google-protobuf [JRuby gem only] (3.21.7, 3.20.3, 3.19.6)

Affected Packages

Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.21.0-rc-1 <3.21.7
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.21.0-rc-1 <3.21.7
RubyGems google-protobuf
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.21.0.rc.1 <3.21.7
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-javalite
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.21.0-rc-1 <3.21.7
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin-lite
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.21.0-rc-1 <3.21.7
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.20.0-rc-1 <3.20.3
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.17.0-rc-1 <3.19.6
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java
ECOSYSTEM: ≥0 <3.16.3
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.20.0-rc-1 <3.20.3
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.17.0-rc-1 <3.19.6
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin
ECOSYSTEM: ≥0 <3.16.3
RubyGems google-protobuf
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.20.0.rc.1 <3.20.3
RubyGems google-protobuf
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.17.0.rc.1 <3.19.6
RubyGems google-protobuf
ECOSYSTEM: ≥0 <3.16.3
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-javalite
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.20.0-rc-1 <3.20.3
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-javalite
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.17.0-rc-1 <3.19.6
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-javalite
ECOSYSTEM: ≥0 <3.16.3
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin-lite
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.20.0-rc-1 <3.20.3
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin-lite
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.17.0-rc-1 <3.19.6
Maven com.google.protobuf:protobuf-kotlin-lite
ECOSYSTEM: ≥0 <3.16.3

CVSS Scoring

CVSS Score

5.0

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Advisory provided by GitHub Security Advisory Database. Published: October 4, 2022, Modified: October 4, 2022

References

Published: 2022-10-12T00:00:00.000Z
Last Modified: 2025-04-21T13:47:57.569Z
Copied to clipboard!