Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-44289

DoS in Protobufjs Project Protobufjs ≤ 7.5.6

Published
13 May 2026
Modified
12 August 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0058 45th percentile
Risk Priority 58 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-44289 is a high-severity Uncontrolled Recursion (CWE-674) vulnerability in Protobufjs Project Protobufjs. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked at the 45th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SC-5 (Denial-of-service Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

protobufjs compiles protobuf definitions into JavaScript (JS) functions. Prior to 7.5.6 and 8.0.2, protobufjs could recurse without a depth limit while decoding nested protobuf data. This affected both skipping unknown group fields and generated decoding of nested message fields. A…

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crafted protobuf binary payload could cause the JavaScript call stack to be exhausted during decoding. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.5.6 and 8.0.2.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-48712Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs
CVE-2026-45740Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs
CVE-2026-59877Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs
CVE-2026-54270Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs
CVE-2026-44290Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs
CVE-2026-44294Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs
CVE-2026-41242Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs
CVE-2026-59876Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs
CVE-2026-44288Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs
CVE-2026-44292Same product: Protobufjs Project Protobufjs

Affected Assets

protobufjs project
protobufjs
≤ 7.5.6 · 8.0.0 — 8.0.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V17.3.2
  • V4.3.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Input validation can reject or constrain data that would otherwise drive unbounded recursive calls.

DoS protection mechanisms limit the resource-exhaustion impact of uncontrolled recursion without eliminating the flaw.

System monitoring can observe anomalous resource consumption that signals runaway recursion after it begins.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent coding errors such as missing recursion limits or termination conditions.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of compute resources can detect excessive consumption caused by uncontrolled recursion.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover and record uncontrolled recursion flaws before deployment.

PR.IR-04 partial match
prevents

Capacity monitoring and resource provisioning can absorb or limit the impact of runaway recursion.

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.

finds

Security testing in development can detect excessive recursion via static analysis or fuzzing.

prevents

Secure development life cycle requires controls that prevent uncontrolled recursion through design and code review.

prevents

Application security requirements can mandate recursion limits or stack-depth checks.

prevents

Secure system architecture principles include resource-management and input-validation rules that limit recursion.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prohibit or constrain recursive constructs that could exhaust stack or memory.

finds

Capacity management includes monitoring and limits that mitigate resource exhaustion from runaway recursion.

References