ProtobufjsApplication · Protobufjs Project

CVE-2026-54269

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.3.3 / 2.5.1 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 8.6.0 and 7.6.3, protobufjs accepted certain schema-derived names that could collide with properties used by protobufjs runtime helpers. The known affected names are fields named hasOwnProperty, field or oneof names such as $type when loaded through protobufjs JSON/reflection descriptors, and service methods whose generated helper name is rpcCall. When affected message or service types were used, protobufjs could read schema-controlled data where it expected an own-property helper, reflected type metadata, or the base RPC helper. This could cause deterministic exceptions or recursive calls in affected decode post-checks, verification, object conversion, reflected JSON serialization, or protobufjs RPC helper invocation. This vulnerability is fixed in 8.6.0 and 7.6.3.

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

protobufjs versions prior to 8.6.0 and 7.6.3 accepted schema-derived field names (specifically 'hasOwnProperty', '$type', and 'rpcCall') that collide with internal runtime helper properties. When protobufjs processes messages or services containing these names, it reads schema-controlled data where it expects its own helper methods, causing deterministic exceptions or recursive calls during decode, verification, object conversion, JSON serialization, or RPC invocation.

MitigationUpgrade protobufjs to version 8.6.0 or 7.6.3 or later. If upgrade is not immediately possible, audit protobuf schemas for field names 'hasOwnProperty', '$type', or service methods that would generate 'rpcCall' helpers and rename them.

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:< 7.6.3>= 8.0.0, < 8.6.0
Protobufjs CliApplication
Affected:< 1.3.3>= 2.0.0, < 2.5.1

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 package.json dependencies for protobufjs version
    Affected if Version is < 7.6.3 or >= 8.0.0 and < 8.6.0
  2. Identify installed protobufjs-cli version
    Run 'npm list protobufjs-cli' or check package.json dependencies for protobufjs-cli version
    Affected if Version is < 1.3.3 or >= 2.0.0 and < 2.5.1
  3. Audit .proto schema files for problematic field names
    Search .proto files for field definitions named 'hasOwnProperty' or '$type' using grep or text search
    Affected if Schema contains fields named 'hasOwnProperty' or '$type'
  4. Audit .proto service definitions for rpcCall generation
    Search .proto files for service definitions with methods that could generate 'rpcCall' helper conflicts
    Affected if Schema contains service definitions that would produce 'rpcCall' helper names in the generated code

You are affected if protobufjs or protobufjs-cli versions fall within the vulnerable ranges AND your schemas contain field or method names 'hasOwnProperty', '$type', or 'rpcCall' that would collide with internal helpers.

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 1.3.3 / 2.5.1 / 7.6.3 or later
Fixed in 1.3.32.5.17.6.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade protobufjs to version 8.6.0 or 7.6.3 or later. If upgrade is not immediately possible, audit protobuf schemas for field names 'hasOwnProperty', '$type', or service methods that would generate 'rpcCall' helpers and rename them.

Recommended fix High confidence

protobufjs: upgrade to 7.6.3 (for 7.x users) or 8.6.0 (for 8.x users); protobufjs-cli: upgrade to 1.3.3 (for 1.x users) or 2.5.1 (for 2.x users)

  1. Check the currently installed protobufjs version by running 'npm list protobufjs' or 'npm list protobufjs-cli'
  2. For protobufjs: if using version 7.x, upgrade to 7.6.3; if using version 8.x, upgrade to 8.6.0 by running 'npm install protobufjs@^7.6.3' or 'npm install protobufjs@^8.6.0'
  3. For protobufjs-cli: if using version 1.x, upgrade to 1.3.3; if using version 2.x, upgrade to 2.5.1 by running 'npm install protobufjs-cli@^1.3.3' or 'npm install protobufjs-cli@^2.5.1'
  4. After upgrading, run your test suite to verify the changes do not break existing functionality
  5. If using a package-lock.json, consider deleting it and regenerating to ensure clean dependency resolution
Caveat No major breaking changes are documented for these patch releases; they primarily address the prototype pollution vulnerability, but validate that schema definitions do not use reserved property names like hasOwnProperty, $type, or rpcCall

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

Fix this in Protobufjs Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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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-2026-54269 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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