CVE-2026-67216
cJSON cJSON_Compare Exponential Complexity Denial of Service
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.
CVSS Vector Breakdown
AV:NAttack VectorAC:HAttack ComplexityPR:NPrivileges RequiredUI:NUser InteractionS:UScopeC:NConfidentialityI:NIntegrityA:HAvailabilityWeaknesses
Affected Products
Exploitability
Attack Graph
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MITRE ATT&CK
1 techniqueReferences
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