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ProtobufjsApplication · Protobufjs Project

CVE-2026-44294

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.5.6 / 8.0.2 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
protobufjs compiles protobuf definitions into JavaScript (JS) functions. Prior to 7.5.6 and 8.0.2, protobufjs generated JavaScript property accessors from schema-controlled field and oneof names. Certain control characters in field names were not escaped before being embedded into generated function bodies. A crafted schema or JSON descriptor could therefore cause generated encode, decode, verify, or conversion functions to fail during compilation. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.5.6 and 8.0.2.

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

protobufjs fails to escape certain control characters in protobuf field and oneof names when generating JavaScript property accessors for function bodies. When a crafted schema or JSON descriptor containing these control characters is processed, the generated encode, decode, verify, or conversion functions fail during JavaScript compilation, causing denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade protobufjs to version 7.5.6 (for 7.x users) or 8.0.2 (for 8.x users) or later. Additionally, validate and sanitize any protobuf schemas or JSON descriptors from untrusted sources before processing.

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
ProtobufjsApplication
Affected:< 7.5.6>= 8.0.0, < 8.0.2

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

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

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 installed protobufjs version
    Run 'npm list protobufjs' or check the package.json dependencies for the protobufjs version number
    Affected if The version is less than 7.5.6, or greater than or equal to 8.0.0 but less than 8.0.2
  2. Determine if protobuf schemas are being loaded from untrusted sources
    Review the application code to see if protobuf schema files (proto or JSON descriptors) are loaded from user input, external APIs, or other untrusted sources
    Affected if Untrusted or user-supplied protobuf schemas are being processed by protobufjs
  3. Check if encoding, decoding, or verify functions fail during execution
    Monitor application logs or test the protobuf encode/decode/verify operations for JavaScript compilation errors related to generated property accessors
    Affected if JavaScript compilation errors occur in generated encode, decode, verify, or conversion functions when processing certain schemas
  4. Inspect the protobuf schema for control characters in field or oneof names
    Examine any protobuf schema files or JSON descriptors for unusual characters (especially control characters like newlines, tabs, or null bytes) in field_names or oneof_name values
    Affected if The schema contains control characters in field or oneof names that would cause the generated accessor code to fail JavaScript compilation

A user is affected if they are running a vulnerable protobufjs version AND processing schemas (especially from untrusted sources) that contain control characters in field or oneof names, causing encode/decode/verify operations to fail with JavaScript compilation errors.

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 7.5.6 / 8.0.2 or later
Fixed in 7.5.68.0.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade protobufjs to version 7.5.6 (for 7.x users) or 8.0.2 (for 8.x users) or later. Additionally, validate and sanitize any protobuf schemas or JSON descriptors from untrusted sources before processing.

Recommended fix High confidence

protobufjs 7.5.6 (for 7.x users) or protobufjs 8.0.2 (for 8.x users)

  1. Check your current protobufjs version by running: npm list protobufjs
  2. If you are using protobufjs 7.x (version < 7.5.6), upgrade to version 7.5.6: npm install [email protected]
  3. If you are using protobufjs 8.x (version 8.0.0 or 8.1.1), upgrade to version 8.0.2: npm install [email protected]
  4. Verify the upgrade was successful: npm list protobufjs
  5. Re-run your build/compile process to ensure generated code works correctly
Caveat Minimal; this is a security patch. If upgrading from 7.x to 8.x, review the protobufjs 8.0 release notes for any breaking changes in the major version.

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

Fix this in Protobufjs Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2026-44294 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