CVE-2026-29036

Publication date 11 August 2026

Last updated 28 August 2026

Ubuntu priority

Cvss 3 Severity Score

Description

cJSON versions 1.5.0 through 1.7.19 contain an incorrectly-resolved name or reference vulnerability in the decode_pointer_inplace() function within cJSON_Utils.c that allows unauthenticated attackers to cause JSON Patch operations to target wrong object keys by supplying crafted JSON Pointer escape sequences (~0 or ~1) in patch paths. Attackers can submit malicious RFC 6902 JSON Patch input to applications using cJSONUtils_ApplyPatches() or cJSONUtils_ApplyPatchesCaseSensitive() to silently corrupt data or delete unintended keys, potentially bypassing authorization controls in applications that rely on JSON Patch for access-controlled data modification.

Read the notes from the security team

Status

Show unmaintained releases

Package	Ubuntu Release	Status
cjson	26.04 LTS resolute	Vulnerable, fix deferred
	24.04 LTS noble	Vulnerable, fix deferred
	22.04 LTS jammy	Vulnerable, fix deferred
	20.04 LTS focal	Vulnerable, fix deferred

Notes

mrmajumder

no upstream fix available as of 2026-08-28

Severity score breakdown

CVSS version:

Base score 8.7 · High

Base metrics

Parameter	Value
Attack vector	Network
Attack complexity	Low
Attack requirements	None
Privileges required	None
User interaction	None
Vulnerable system - Confidentiality impact	None
Vulnerable system - Integrity impact	High
Vulnerable system - Availability impact	None
Subsequent system - Confidentiality impact	None
Subsequent system - Integrity impact	None
Subsequent system - Availability impact	None

Scores

Parameter	Value
Base score	8.7 · High
Base + Threat score	-
Base + Environmental score	-
Base + Threat + Environmental score	-

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Base score 7.5 · High