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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2022-38749

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.31 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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 · unedited
Using snakeYAML to parse untrusted YAML files may be vulnerable to Denial of Service attacks (DOS). If the parser is running on user supplied input, an attacker may supply content that causes the parser to crash by stackoverflow.

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 analysis · high confidence

snakeYAML parser is vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack via stack overflow when parsing untrusted YAML input. Attackers can supply specially crafted YAML content that exhausts the call stack, causing the parser to crash.

MitigationUpdate snakeYAML to a patched version. If updating is not possible, avoid parsing untrusted YAML input and implement input length/complexity limits.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0
SnakeyamlApplication
Affected:< 1.31

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate snakeYAML library in your environment
    Search for snakeyaml JAR files or Maven/Gradle dependencies containing 'org.yaml:snakeyaml' in your project dependencies or application libraries
    Affected if snakeYAML library is present and used for YAML parsing
  2. Identify installed snakeYAML version
    Check the snakeYAML version number from your dependency manifest (pom.xml, build.gradle, or the JAR file manifest), or run: java -cp snakeyaml.jar org.yaml.snakeyaml.VersionInfo
    Affected if Version is lower than 1.31 (e.g., 1.30, 1.29, etc.)
  3. Verify YAML input source exposure
    Inspect your application code to determine if the YAML parser processes input from external/untrusted sources such as user uploads, API requests, configuration files from untrusted domains, or network endpoints
    Affected if Your application parses YAML from untrusted or external sources without validation
  4. Check for input length or complexity limits
    Review your YAML parsing configuration or application code for any limits on input size (character count, file size) or complexity (depth of nested structures, number of objects)
    Affected if No input length or complexity limits are enforced on parsed YAML content
  5. On Debian systems, check OS-installed snakeYAML
    If using Debian 10.0, run: dpkg -l | grep snakeyaml or check /usr/share/java/ for snakeyaml JAR files
    Affected if Debian 10.0 has the system-provided snakeYAML package installed

You are affected if your environment uses snakeYAML version below 1.31 and parses YAML input from untrusted sources without input limits.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.31 or later
Fixed in 1.31
Interim mitigation

Update snakeYAML to a patched version. If updating is not possible, avoid parsing untrusted YAML input and implement input length/complexity limits.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

SnakeYAML version 1.31 or later

  1. Identify all Java applications and services that depend on the SnakeYAML library
  2. For Maven projects: update the pom.xml dependency to <dependency><groupId>org.yaml</groupId><artifactId>snakeyaml</artifactId><version>1.31</version></dependency> or later
  3. For Gradle projects: update build.gradle to implementation 'org.yaml:snakeyaml:1.31' or later
  4. Run dependency tree commands (mvn dependency:tree or gradle dependencies) to verify the upgrade resolves the vulnerable transitive dependencies
  5. Rebuild and redeploy all affected applications
  6. For Debian systems: run 'apt-get update && apt-get install libyaml-java' or check for Debian security updates for snakeyaml
Caveat Review SnakeYAML changelog between your current version and 1.31 for potential API changes; major version jumps may include breaking changes to parser behavior

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,210
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,936.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-38749 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data