Application crash via unbounded unknown-group recursion
Published Jul 5, 2025 · Updated Jul 8, 2025
Uncontrolled recursion in rust-protobuf before 3.7.2 allows remote attackers to crash consuming applications with nested unknown groups. CodedInputStream::skip_group recursively follows StartGroup wire types without applying the parser's recursion-depth limit, so deeply nested untrusted input exhausts the thread stack. Exposure requires an application to parse attacker-controlled Protocol Buffers data containing unknown groups; the bounded consequence is a process crash.
Summary
What happened
Uncontrolled recursion in rust-protobuf before 3.7.2 allows remote attackers to crash consuming applications with nested unknown groups. CodedInputStream::skip_group recursively follows StartGroup wire types without applying the parser's recursion-depth limit, so deeply nested untrusted input exhausts the thread stack. Exposure requires an application to parse attacker-controlled Protocol Buffers data containing unknown groups; the bounded consequence is a process crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-53605
- Published
- Jul 5, 2025
- Updated
- Jul 8, 2025
- Vendor
- Stepan Koltsov
- Product
- rust-protobuf
- Classifications
- CWE-770, CWE-20, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 5, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 8, 2025Record 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 <3.7.2
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
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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