CVE-2022-1941 | Out of Memory issue in ProtocolBuffers for cpp and python

A parsing vulnerability for the MessageSet type in the ProtocolBuffers versions prior to and including 3.16.1, 3.17.3, 3.18.2, 3.19.4, 3.20.1 and 3.21.5 for protobuf-cpp, and versions prior to and including 3.16.1, 3.17.3, 3.18.2, 3.19.4, 3.20.1 and 4.21.5 for protobuf-python can lead to out of memory failures. A specially crafted message with multiple key-value per elements creates parsing issues, and can lead to a Denial of Service against services receiving unsanitized input. We recommend upgrading to versions 3.18.3, 3.19.5, 3.20.2, 3.21.6 for protobuf-cpp and 3.18.3, 3.19.5, 3.20.2, 4.21.6 for protobuf-python. Versions for 3.16 and 3.17 are no longer updated.

Published: 2022-09-22 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-1941 is rated Moderate Risk (52.9/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.15%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-1941

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.16% 1.15% +0.99%
2 2026-03-18 0.14% 0.16% +0.01%
3 2026-03-02 — 0.14% —

Full EPSS history (17 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-1941

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-1941

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2022-1941

GHSA-8gq9-2x98-w8hf · Severity: high · Ecosystem: pip — protobuf-cpp and protobuf-python have potential Denial of Service issue

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-1941

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-1941 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (protobuf), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-1941
gentoo normal CVE-2022-1941: 1 GLSA(s) (202408-31), 2 atom(s) (dev-libs/protobuf, dev-python/protobuf-python); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2022-1941
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-1941
suse medium CVE-2022-1941 severity moderate: SUSE including 284 source package names (0.23.0.3.2.368:libprotobuf-lite20-3.9.2-150200.4.19.2, 0.58.0.17.143:libprotobuf-lite20-3.9.2-150200.4.19.2, …), 440 product×package rows across 112 product lines (Container bci/bci-init, Container bci/nodejs, … (112 product lines)): Fixed 304, Known Affected 110, Known Not Affected 24, First Fixed 2. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-1941/
ubuntu low CVE-2022-1941 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (protobuf), 8 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 5, ignored 1, needs-triage 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-1941

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-1941

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
google protobuf-cpp < 3.18.3 cpe:2.3:a:google:protobuf-cpp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
google protobuf-cpp >= 3.19.0, < 3.19.5 cpe:2.3:a:google:protobuf-cpp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
google protobuf-cpp >= 3.20.0, < 3.20.2 cpe:2.3:a:google:protobuf-cpp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
google protobuf-cpp >= 3.21.0, < 3.21.6 cpe:2.3:a:google:protobuf-cpp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
google protobuf-python < 3.18.3 cpe:2.3:a:google:protobuf-python:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
google protobuf-python >= 3.19.0, < 3.19.5 cpe:2.3:a:google:protobuf-python:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
google protobuf-python >= 3.20.0, < 3.20.2 cpe:2.3:a:google:protobuf-python:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
google protobuf-python >= 4.0.0, < 4.21.6 cpe:2.3:a:google:protobuf-python:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 36 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 37 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-1941

cvelogic Threat Intelligence