CVE-2025-5472Network attack vector

Application crash via unbounded recursive JSON traversal

Published Jul 7, 2025 · Updated Jul 7, 2025

Uncontrolled recursion in LlamaIndex JSONReader before 0.12.38 allows attackers to crash applications with deeply nested JSON. With levels_back enabled, load_data passes parsed nested objects to _depth_first_yield without bounding traversal depth, causing a RecursionError. A hosting application must pass attacker-controlled JSON to JSONReader, and the consequence is limited to interruption of that application.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.34%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Uncontrolled recursion in LlamaIndex JSONReader before 0.12.38 allows attackers to crash applications with deeply nested JSON. With levels_back enabled, load_data passes parsed nested objects to _depth_first_yield without bounding traversal depth, causing a RecursionError. A hosting application must pass attacker-controlled JSON to JSONReader, and the consequence is limited to interruption of that application.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-5472
Published
Jul 7, 2025
Updated
Jul 7, 2025
Vendor
LlamaIndex
Product
LlamaIndex
Classifications
CWE-674, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 7, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jul 7, 2025Record 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=unspecified <0.12.38

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

LlamaIndex · LlamaIndexversion=unspecified <0.12.38

Published CVSS scores

6.5GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

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

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-674Uncontrolled Recursion
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo