cJSON through 1.7.19 contains an inefficient algorithmic complexity flaw in cJSON_Compare(). When comparing objects, the function recurses into each shared subtree twice, once in each direction, with no depth guard, making the running time exponential in nesting depth. A small, deeply nested document of a few hundred bytes (depth around 40) compared for equality consumes hours of CPU, and the cost roughly doubles with each additional level of nesting. An application that calls cJSON_Compare() on attacker-influenced JSON that is structurally equal to a reference document is exposed to a denial-of-service condition.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
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History
Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:30:00 +0000
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ssvc
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Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:15:00 +0000
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| Weaknesses | CWE-770 | |
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threat_severity
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threat_severity
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Wed, 29 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000
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| Description | cJSON through 1.7.19 contains an inefficient algorithmic complexity flaw in cJSON_Compare(). When comparing objects, the function recurses into each shared subtree twice, once in each direction, with no depth guard, making the running time exponential in nesting depth. A small, deeply nested document of a few hundred bytes (depth around 40) compared for equality consumes hours of CPU, and the cost roughly doubles with each additional level of nesting. An application that calls cJSON_Compare() on attacker-influenced JSON that is structurally equal to a reference document is exposed to a denial-of-service condition. | |
| Title | cJSON cJSON_Compare Exponential Complexity Denial of Service | |
| First Time appeared |
Davegamble
Davegamble cjson |
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| Weaknesses | CWE-407 | |
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:a:davegamble:cjson:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Davegamble
Davegamble cjson |
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| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: VulnCheck
Published:
Updated: 2026-07-30T15:19:59.613Z
Reserved: 2026-07-28T19:20:19.157Z
Link: CVE-2026-67216
Updated: 2026-07-30T13:38:54.112Z
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-07-29T15:45:03Z