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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2022-38751

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 · moderate confidence

snakeYAML library does not properly limit recursion when parsing deeply nested YAML structures, allowing specially crafted YAML input to cause a stack overflow and crash the parser, resulting in denial of service for applications that parse untrusted YAML files.

MitigationValidate YAML input depth/length before parsing, implement resource limits on parsing operations, and upgrade snakeYAML to a patched version if available; consider sandboxing or isolating YAML parsing from critical code paths.

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. Identify snakeYAML library presence
    Search for snakeyaml JAR files in your application dependencies, build files (pom.xml, build.gradle), or application lib directories. Common paths include: Maven dependencies (~/.m2/repository/org/yaml/snakeyaml/), Gradle cache, or bundled in WEB-INF/lib for web applications.
    Affected if snakeYAML library is found in your application dependencies or runtime classpath
  2. Determine installed snakeYAML version
    Check the version of snakeYAML in your dependency management. For Maven, inspect pom.xml or run 'mvn dependency:tree | grep snakeyaml'. For Gradle, check build.gradle or run 'gradle dependencies'. For runtime, the JAR filename often contains the version (e.g., snakeyaml-1.30.jar).
    Affected if The version is lower than 1.31, or the version cannot be determined and snakeYAML is present
  3. Verify YAML parsing of untrusted input
    Review application code to determine if YAML files are parsed from untrusted sources such as user uploads, external API requests, configuration files from untrusted locations, or network-based input.
    Affected if The application parses YAML input from untrusted or external sources without prior validation
  4. Confirm lack of recursion depth limits
    Inspect YAML parser configuration for any limits on nesting depth. Check if the application sets PropertyBounds, Constructor limits, or uses SafeConstructor with restricted depth. Search code for 'depth', 'nesting', 'recursion' limits in YAML parsing configuration.
    Affected if No explicit depth or recursion limits are configured on the YAML parser, and the application processes deeply nested YAML structures

You are affected if snakeYAML version is below 1.31 AND your application parses untrusted or deeply nested YAML input without configured depth 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

Validate YAML input depth/length before parsing, implement resource limits on parsing operations, and upgrade snakeYAML to a patched version if available; consider sandboxing or isolating YAML parsing from critical code paths.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

SnakeYAML version 1.31 or later

  1. 1. Identify all Java applications and dependencies that use the SnakeYAML library in your environment
  2. 2. For each project, locate the snakeyaml dependency in your build configuration (e.g., pom.xml for Maven, build.gradle for Gradle)
  3. 3. Update the SnakeYAML dependency version to 1.31 or later. For Maven, change the version in the dependency management section. For Gradle, update the version string
  4. 4. Rebuild and recompile all affected applications
  5. 5. Redeploy the updated applications to all environments
  6. 6. Verify that YAML parsing functionality continues to work correctly after the upgrade
Caveat Minimal risk - this is a patch release upgrade within the same major version, but test thoroughly to ensure YAML parsing behavior remains consistent

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
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

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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-2022-38751 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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