Protobufjs Project: community verdicts

protobufjs compiles protobuf definitions into JavaScript (JS) functions. Prior to 7.6.1 and 8.4.1, protobufjs could recurse without a depth limit while converting decoded messages to plain objects or JSON. This affected generated toObject() conversion and the custom google.protobuf.Any JSON conversion path. A crafted protobuf binary payload containing deeply nested Any values could cause the JavaScript call stack to be exhausted during conversion to JSON. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.6.1 and 8.4.1.

protobufjs compiles protobuf definitions into JavaScript (JS) functions. From 8.2.0 to 8.4.2, protobufjs preserved unknown wire elements in message.$unknowns and did not provide a decode-time option to discard unknown fields before retaining them. A crafted protobuf payload containing many unknown fields could therefore cause a decoded message to retain substantially more memory than the input size would suggest, even when unknown-field round-tripping is not needed. protobufjs 8.5.0 added the relevant decode-time options, allowing applications that decode untrusted protobuf data to disable unknown-field retention during decode. protobufjs 8.6.2 flips the default so unknown fields are discarded unless explicitly opted into.

protobufjs-cli is the command line add-on for protobuf.js. Prior to 1.3.2 and 2.5.0, a previous fix for unsafe name handling in pbjs static / static-module code generation was incomplete. Affected versions of protobufjs-cli could still emit unsafe JavaScript references when generating static output from crafted JSON descriptor input. The common case of parsing schemas from .proto files is not affected. This is a bypass of CVE-2026-44295. An attacker who can provide or influence pre-parsed JSON descriptors passed to pbjs static code generation may be able to cause generated JavaScript output to contain attacker-controlled code. The injected code may execute if the generated file is later executed or imported and an affected generated API path is invoked. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.3.2 and 2.5.0.

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.