Google ProtobufApplication · Google
CVE-2021-22569
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAn issue in protobuf-java allowed the interleaving of com.google.protobuf.UnknownFieldSet fields in such a way that would be processed out of order. A small malicious payload can occupy the parser for several minutes by creating large numbers of short-lived objects that cause frequent, repeated pauses. We recommend upgrading libraries beyond the vulnerable versions.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysisA detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Google ProtobufApplication
< 3.19.2< 3.16.1>= 3.18.0, < 3.18.2>= 3.19.0, < 3.19.2< 3.18.2>= 3.19.0, < 3.19.2= 1.9.0= 1.15.0= 1.15.1= 1.15.0= 19c= 21cCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped3.16.13.18.23.19.2
Protobuf/protobuf-java/protobuf-kotlin: upgrade to >= 3.19.2 (or 3.18.2 or 3.16.1 as compatible alternatives)
- Identify the specific Protobuf library used in your project (protobuf-java, protobuf-kotlin, or both)
- Locate your dependency management file (e.g., pom.xml for Maven, build.gradle for Gradle)
- For protobuf-java: upgrade to version 3.19.2 or later, or alternatively version 3.18.2 or 3.16.1 if those fit your compatibility needs
- For protobuf-kotlin: upgrade to version 3.19.2 or later, or alternatively version 3.18.2 if that fits your compatibility needs
- Run your build to verify the upgrade resolves the dependency
- Test your application thoroughly to ensure the Protobuf serialization/deserialization still works correctly
- For Oracle products (Communications Cloud Native Core, Spatial And Graph Mapviewer): apply the Oracle CPU April 2022 patch from https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22569 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-22569 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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