CVE-2022-1941Public exploit

Service interruption via surplus MessageSet elements

Published Sep 22, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

MessageSet parsing in affected Google Protocol Buffers C++ and Python releases allows attackers to exhaust service memory with crafted data. Earlier parsers continue processing surplus type-ID and payload elements within one MessageSet item instead of skipping elements after the first valid pair, causing disproportionate allocation. Reachability requires a service to parse unsanitized MessageSet input; an approximately 500 KB payload can allocate more than 3 GB and interrupt the service.

CVSS severity5.7
Medium
EPSS probability1.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

MessageSet parsing in affected Google Protocol Buffers C++ and Python releases allows attackers to exhaust service memory with crafted data. Earlier parsers continue processing surplus type-ID and payload elements within one MessageSet item instead of skipping elements after the first valid pair, causing disproportionate allocation. Reachability requires a service to parse unsanitized MessageSet input; an approximately 500 KB payload can allocate more than 3 GB and interrupt the service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-1941
Published
Sep 22, 2022
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Google
Product
Protocol Buffers
Classifications
CWE-1286, T1499.004
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 22, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <3.18.3
  2. Affected versionversion=3.19.0 <3.19.5
  3. Affected versionversion=3.20.0 <3.20.2
  4. Affected versionversion=3.21.0 <3.21.6
  5. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=3.16.1
  6. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=3.17.3
  7. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=3.18.2
  8. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=3.19.4
  9. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=3.20.1
  10. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=3.21.5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Google · Protocol Buffersversion=0 <3.18.3; version=3.19.0 <3.19.5; version=3.20.0 <3.20.2; version=3.21.0 <3.21.6; version=unspecified <=3.16.1; version=unspecified <=3.17.3; version=unspecified <=3.18.2; version=unspecified <=3.19.4; version=unspecified <=3.20.1; version=unspecified <=3.21.5
Google · Protocol Buffers Pythonversion=0 <3.18.3; version=3.19.0 <3.19.5; version=3.20.0 <3.20.2; version=4.0.0 <4.21.6; version=unspecified <=3.16.1; version=unspecified <=3.17.3; version=unspecified <=3.18.2; version=unspecified <=3.19.4; version=unspecified <=3.20.1; version=unspecified <=4.21.5

Published CVSS scores

5.7Google Protocol BuffersCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.5NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-1286Improper Validation of Syntactic Correctness of Input
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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