CVE-2026-44289 | protobufjs: Denial of service through unbounded protobuf recursion

protobufjs compiles protobuf definitions into JavaScript (JS) functions. Prior to 7.5.6 and 8.0.2, protobufjs could recurse without a depth limit while decoding nested protobuf data. This affected both skipping unknown group fields and generated decoding of nested message fields. A crafted protobuf binary payload could cause the JavaScript call stack to be exhausted during decoding. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.5.6 and 8.0.2.

Published: 2026-05-13 Last update: 2026-05-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-44289 is rated Low Risk (38.6/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.32%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2026-44289

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 0.06% 0.32% +0.27%
2 2026-05-19 0.04% 0.06% +0.01%
3 2026-05-14 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-44289

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]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-44289

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-44289

GHSA-685m-2w69-288q · Severity: high · Ecosystem: npm — protobuf.js: Denial of service through unbounded protobuf recursion

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-44289

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
protobufjs_project protobufjs < 7.5.6 cpe:2.3:a:protobufjs_project:protobufjs:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*
protobufjs_project protobufjs >= 8.0.0, < 8.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:protobufjs_project:protobufjs:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*

References for CVE-2026-44289

cvelogic Threat Intelligence