Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-41242 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Protobufjs Project Protobufjs. Its CVSS base score is 9.4 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 46% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-41242 is a code injection vulnerability (CWE-94) in the protobufjs library, which compiles Protocol Buffers (protobuf) definitions into JavaScript functions. Versions prior to 8.0.1 and 7.5.5 are affected, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary code into the "type" fields of protobuf definitions. This code executes during object decoding when using the compromised definition, earning a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Remote attackers without authentication or user interaction can exploit this by supplying malicious protobuf definitions to applications using vulnerable protobufjs for decoding. Successful exploitation leads to arbitrary code execution on the target system, potentially resulting in full compromise with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts.
Mitigation requires upgrading to protobufjs version 8.0.1 or 7.5.5, as detailed in the project's security advisory (GHSA-xq3m-2v4x-88gg) and corresponding release notes. Relevant patches are available in commits 535df444ac060243722ac5d672db205e5c531d75 and ff7b2afef8754837cc6dc64c864cd111ab477956.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-23678
Vulnerability Data
protobufjs compiles protobuf definitions into JavaScript (JS) functions. In versions prior to 8.0.1 and 7.5.5, attackers can inject arbitrary code in the "type" fields of protobuf definitions, which will then execute during object decoding using that definition. Versions 8.0.1 and…
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7.5.5 patch the issue.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.3.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation finds code paths that accept and execute externally influenced strings.
Input validation directly stops untrusted data from being used to construct executable code without neutralization.
Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.
Requiring documented secure development standards and tools enforces use of safe code-generation APIs and escaping.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).
PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Banning unapproved code samples and unauthenticated web services, combined with secure-coding standards and SAST, prevents the dynamic generation or inclusion of attacker-supplied code.