Application crash via unlimited JSON nesting
Published Jan 3, 2024 · Updated Jul 14, 2026
Improper exception handling in Newtonsoft Json.NET before 13.0.1 allows remote attackers to crash applications with deeply nested JSON. JsonReader and JsonSerializer impose no default nesting limit, so recursive processing exhausts the stack instead of rejecting excessive depth. Exposure requires an application to process attacker-controlled JSON through affected serialization or deserialization paths; the resulting StackOverflowException terminates the hosting process.
Summary
What happened
Improper exception handling in Newtonsoft Json.NET before 13.0.1 allows remote attackers to crash applications with deeply nested JSON. JsonReader and JsonSerializer impose no default nesting limit, so recursive processing exhausts the stack instead of rejecting excessive depth. Exposure requires an application to process attacker-controlled JSON through affected serialization or deserialization paths; the resulting StackOverflowException terminates the hosting process.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-21907
- Published
- Jan 3, 2024
- Updated
- Jul 14, 2026
- Vendor
- Newtonsoft
- Product
- Json.NET
- Classifications
- CWE-755, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 3, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 14, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <13.0.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Deeply nested JSON denial-of-service proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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