CVE-2022-24795: yajl-ruby is a C binding to the YAJL JSON parsing and generation library. The 1.x branch and the 2.x branch of `yajl` contain an integer overflow whic...

Description

yajl-ruby is a C binding to the YAJL JSON parsing and generation library. The 1.x branch and the 2.x branch of `yajl` contain an integer overflow which leads to subsequent heap memory corruption when dealing with large (~2GB) inputs. The reallocation logic at `yajl_buf.c#L64` may result in the `need` 32bit integer wrapping to 0 when `need` approaches a value of 0x80000000 (i.e. ~2GB of data), which results in a reallocation of buf->alloc into a small heap chunk. These integers are declared as `size_t` in the 2.x branch of `yajl`, which practically prevents the issue from triggering on 64bit platforms, however this does not preclude this issue triggering on 32bit builds on which `size_t` is a 32bit integer. Subsequent population of this under-allocated heap chunk is based on the original buffer size, leading to heap memory corruption. This vulnerability mostly impacts process availability. Maintainers believe exploitation for arbitrary code execution is unlikely. A patch is available and anticipated to be part of yajl-ruby version 1.4.2. As a workaround, avoid passing large inputs to YAJL.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

7.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability

3.47%

87.6th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Yajl-Ruby Project	Yajl-Ruby	< 1.4.2

References

Timeline

Published: Apr 5, 2022
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-24795?

yajl-ruby is a C binding to the YAJL JSON parsing and generation library. The 1.x branch and the 2.x branch of `yajl` contain an integer overflow which leads to subsequent heap memory corruption when dealing with large (~2GB) inputs. The reallocation logic at `yajl_buf.c#L64` may result in the `need` 32bit integer wrapping to 0 when `need` approaches a value of 0x80000000 (i.e. ~2GB of data), which results in a reallocation of buf->alloc into a small heap chunk. These integers are declared as `size_t` in the 2.x branch of `yajl`, which practically prevents the issue from triggering on 64bit platforms, however this does not preclude this issue triggering on 32bit builds on which `size_t` is a 32bit integer. Subsequent population of this under-allocated heap chunk is based on the original buffer size, leading to heap memory corruption. This vulnerability mostly impacts process availability. Maintainers believe exploitation for arbitrary code execution is unlikely. A patch is available and anticipated to be part of yajl-ruby version 1.4.2. As a workaround, avoid passing large inputs to YAJL.

How severe is CVE-2022-24795?

CVE-2022-24795 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 3.47% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2022-24795?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.