Description
The Smile parser in FasterXML jackson-dataformats-binary never invokes StreamReadConstraints.validateNameLength() when decoding JSON object property names, so the maxNameLength limit is not enforced for this format. SmileParser._handleLongFieldName() grows its internal name buffer through an unconstrained _growArrayTo() call and performs no length validation. An attacker who can have a Smile document parsed may therefore embed a single property name of unbounded length; the parser buffers the whole name in memory before returning it, whatever maxNameLength is configured to. Because StreamReadConstraints.maxDocumentLength is also disabled by default, nothing else bounds the name under default settings, so the only limits are the attacker's upload capacity and available heap, leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. No privileges beyond the ability to submit data to a parsing endpoint are required, and exploitation needs only that the bytes reach SmileFactory parsing, directly or through an ObjectMapper configured with the Smile module. jackson-core's own JSON parsers enforce maxNameLength incrementally during name decoding; this gap is specific to the binary formats. maxNameLength and validateNameLength were introduced in jackson-core 2.16.0, so releases before 2.16.0 do not contain the constraint that is left unenforced. This issue is tracked together with the CBOR parser defect in the same vendor advisory, GHSA-3v8f-v6vx-fmrm, which covers both binary formats. The Smile parser defect (jackson-dataformats-binary issue #726) is CVE-2026-68496; the CBOR parser defect (issue #725) is assigned CVE-2026-68495.
Published: 2026-10-01
Score: 7.5 High
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
AI Analysis

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Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat:jackson-dataformat-smile 2.18.10, 2.21.6 or 2.22.2, or to tools.jackson.dataformat:jackson-dataformat-smile 3.1.6 or 3.2.2. The 2.16.x, 2.17.x, 2.19.x, 2.20.x and 3.0.x lines received no fix on their own branch and are no longer maintained upstream.


Vendor Workaround

No StreamReadConstraints setting mitigates this: maxNameLength is the control that is not enforced, and maxDocumentLength is disabled by default (-1). Bound request body size ahead of the parser, set StreamReadConstraints.maxDocumentLength explicitly on the SmileFactory, and cap JVM heap so a single document cannot exhaust process memory. Avoid parsing untrusted Smile input where these limits cannot be applied.

Tracking

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Advisories

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History

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 17:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description The Smile parser in FasterXML jackson-dataformats-binary never invokes StreamReadConstraints.validateNameLength() when decoding JSON object property names, so the maxNameLength limit is not enforced for this format. SmileParser._handleLongFieldName() grows its internal name buffer through an unconstrained _growArrayTo() call and performs no length validation. An attacker who can have a Smile document parsed may therefore embed a single property name of unbounded length; the parser buffers the whole name in memory before returning it, whatever maxNameLength is configured to. Because StreamReadConstraints.maxDocumentLength is also disabled by default, nothing else bounds the name under default settings, so the only limits are the attacker's upload capacity and available heap, leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service. No privileges beyond the ability to submit data to a parsing endpoint are required, and exploitation needs only that the bytes reach SmileFactory parsing, directly or through an ObjectMapper configured with the Smile module. jackson-core's own JSON parsers enforce maxNameLength incrementally during name decoding; this gap is specific to the binary formats. maxNameLength and validateNameLength were introduced in jackson-core 2.16.0, so releases before 2.16.0 do not contain the constraint that is left unenforced. This issue is tracked together with the CBOR parser defect in the same vendor advisory, GHSA-3v8f-v6vx-fmrm, which covers both binary formats. The Smile parser defect (jackson-dataformats-binary issue #726) is CVE-2026-68496; the CBOR parser defect (issue #725) is assigned CVE-2026-68495.
Title jackson-dataformats-binary: Smile parser does not enforce StreamReadConstraints.maxNameLength, enabling memory-exhaustion denial of service
Weaknesses CWE-400
CWE-770
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}


Subscriptions

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: HeroDevs

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-01T18:15:54.459Z

Reserved: 2026-07-30T15:20:37.473Z

Link: CVE-2026-68496

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-10-01T18:17:27.360

Modified: 2026-10-01T18:17:27.360

Link: CVE-2026-68496

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses
  • CWE-400

    Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

  • CWE-770

    Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling