CVE-2026-29036

high

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.

References

https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/cjson-wrong-key-modification-via-json-pointer-escape-decoding

https://github.com/DaveGamble/cJSON

Details

Source: Mitre, NVD

Published: 2026-08-11

Updated: 2026-08-11

Risk Information

CVSS v2

Base Score: 7.8

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:C/A:N

Severity: High

CVSS v3

Base Score: 7.5

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

Severity: High

CVSS v4

Base Score: 8.7

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

Severity: High